GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

HIS  LIFE  AND  ACHIEVEMENTS 


GEORGE 
WESTINGHOUSE 

His  Life  and  Achievements 


BY 


FRANCIS   E.    LEUPP 


Illustrated  from  Photographs 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,    BROWN,   AND    COMPANY 

1919 


Copyright,  1918, 

BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
All  rights  reserved 


Norfooon 

Set  up  and  electrotyped  by  J.  S.  Gushing  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
Presswork  by  S.  J.  Parkhill  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


TO    MY    DEAR    OLD    FRIEND 

THE    HONORABLE    MARTIN    A.    KNAPP, 

WHO    HAS    LABORED    FOR    THE    RAILWAYS 

ON    THEIR    ECONOMIC    SIDE 

AS    GEORGE    WESTINGHOUSE    DID    FOR    THEIR 
PHYSICAL    STRENGTH    AND    SAFETY 


3923 


PREFACE 

ALTHOUGH  George  Westinghouse  was,  in  the 
broadest  sense,  a  public  servant,  my  own  acquaint- 
ance with  him  was  only  social.  As  he  left  behind 
him  no  diaries,  no  files  of  personal  correspondence, 
and  scarcely  any  other  sources  of  supply  on  which 
the  biographer  of  a  political  or  military  celebrity 
depends  for  much  interesting  material,  I  have  been 
obliged  to  rely,  in  the  main,  on  the  memories  of 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Westinghouse,  local  tradition  and 
gossip  in  neighborhoods  where  he  had  lived,  the 
records  of  courts  and  minutes  of  public  meetings, 
corporate  reports  and  partnership  account  books, 
old  volumes  of  newspapers  and  magazines,  mis- 
cellaneous scrapbooks,  and  the  like.  One  day,  let 
us  hope,  we  may  have  from  the  pen  of  some  well- 
known  expert  in  technology  an  adequate  summary 
of  what  the  whole  world's  industrial  advancement 
owes  to  the  work  of  the  eminent  inventor.  The 
mission  of  the  present  volume  is  simply  human.  It 
will  have  been  accomplished  if  it  conveys  to  the 
young  man  of  today  a  sense  that  his  career  will 
depend  for  success  less  on  the  splendor  of  its  start 
than  on  the  spirit  in  which  he  pursues  it ;  far  less 
on  capital  than  on  courage,  on  worry  than  on  watch- 
fulness, on  "pull"  than  on  persistence. 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

Of  the  gentlemen  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  as- 
sistance in  this  task,  I  beg  here  to  return  thanks  to 
Mr.  Ernest  H.  Heinrichs,  who  for  some  years  was 
attached  to  the  personal  staff  in  the  Westinghouse 
office  in  Pittsburgh,  and  who  passed  over  to  me  the 
copious  notes  he  had  made  with  a  view  to  a  possible 
biography  of  his  chief ;  to  Mr.  H.  C.  Tener,  the  last 
private  secretary  of  Mr.  Westinghouse ;  to  Mr. 
Alexander  G.  Uptegraff,  who  for  a  long  period  was 
a  member  of  the  family  circle  and  represented 
Mrs.  Westinghouse  in  many  of  her  social  and  char- 
itable projects ;  to  Mr.  George  W.  Jones,  a  relative 
who  is  still  engaged  in  business  at  the  old  head- 
quarters of  "G.  Westinghouse  &  Co."  in  Schenec- 
tady,  New  York ;  to  the  authors  of  the  excellent 
books  and  magazine  articles  from  which  I  have 
drawn  facts  or  inspiration ;  and  to  a  number  of 
interesting  men  and  women  whom  I  have  quoted 
in  my  narrative.  In  an  effort  to  avoid  errors,  I 
have,  as  far  as  practicable,  submitted  doubtful 
passages  to  various  persons  whose  criticism  would 
be  valuable,  and  in  all  cases  where  their  opinions 
disagreed  I  have  exercised  my  own  discretion.  I  am 
making  this  statement  as  a  matter  of  fairness  to 
every  one  concerned. 

F.  E.  L. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 
July  i,  1918. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE vii 

I  "Ax  FIRST,  THE  INFANT" i 

II  "THE  AGE  TWIXT  BOY  AND  YOUTH"         .        .        .13 

III  SOLDIER  AND  SAILOR,  STUDENT  AND  SWAIN         .        .      29 

IV  OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE  DOOR  ....      47 
V  DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY 62 

VI  "NOTHING  SUCCEEDS  LIKE  SUCCESS"  ....      76 

VII  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES 91 

VIII  OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH      .        .        .    106 

IX  WHAT  THE  GAS  DID  FOR  PITTSBURGH         .        .        .119 

X  THE  CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS         .        .        .        .131 

XI  THE  STRUGGLE  IN  NEW  YORK     .        .        .        .        .143 

XII  ORIGIN  OF  THE  "STOPPER"  LAMP        ....    156 

XIII  FROM  NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY 171 

XIV  "BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM"      .        .        .188 
XV  A  SECOND  FINANCIAL  ORDEAL 204 

XVI  AIR  SPRINGS  AND  ADDRESSES 219 

XVII  A  BIG  MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE 232 

XVIII  "THE  OLD  MAN"  AND  His  EMPLOYEES      .       .        .246 

XIX  A  TRIO  OF  HOMES 259 

XX  INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER 274 

XXI  "LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL" 290 

INDEX 3QI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

George  Westinghouse       .        .        .  Frontispiece  in  Photogravure 

The  Mother  and  Father  of  George  Westinghouse     FACING  PAGE        4 

Birthplace  at  Central  Bridge,  N.  Y.         .        .        .     "  "          10 

George  Westinghouse.     From  a  War-Time  Portrait     "  "         30 

George    Westinghouse    and    Mrs.    Westinghouse 

during  their  Earlier  Days  of  Wedded  Life        .     "  "         46 

The  First  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Factory             .     "  72 

Locomotive  and  Passenger  Car  That  Constituted  a 
Part  of  the  First  Train  Used  for  a  Public  Ex- 
hibition of  the  Brake  "  "76 

"Solitude,"  the  Westinghouse  Home  at  Pittsburgh       "  "        122 

Marguerite  Erskine  Westinghouse                             .     "  134 

George  Westinghouse  at  Work                                  .     "  "        180 

Erskine  Manor,  the  Lenox  Residence      ..."  "       264 


GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

CHAPTER   I 
"Ax  FIRST,  THE  INFANT" 

IN  the  northeast  corner  of  Schoharie  County,  New 
York,  lies  the  village  of  Central  Bridge.  To  most 
travelers  on  the  railroad  that  skirts  its  border  it  is 
only  a  way  station,  to  students  of  the  map  a  dot ; 
but  to  it  our  country  owes  a  debt,  for  out  of  it  came 
one  of  those  uncommon  men  whose  achievements 
have  shed  luster  upon  the  American  name  in  all  parts 
of  the  earth,  and  whose  character  is  a  precious  herit- 
age to  younger  generations  in  search  of  an  exemplar. 
He  was  not  a  military  hero,  though  he  tasted  war ; 
he  was  not  a  statesman,  though  counting  Presidents 
and  Kings  among  his  friends ;  he  was  master  of  no 
magic  arts,  yet  his  clever  hands,  responsive  to  a  fertile 
mind,  were  always  busy  converting  prophecy  into 
history.  He  gloried  in  the  fact  that  he  was  simply 
a  man  among  men,  with  sturdy  muscles  and  an  active 
brain,  whose  so-called  genius  consisted  of  the  broadest 
of  human  sympathies  and  the  keenest  sense  of  future 
possibilities  harnessed  to  a  tireless  perseverance. 


i  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Central  Bridge,  which  is  not  yet  a  large  community, 
was  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  last  century  the  heart  of 
a  back-country  farming  district.  Its  aboriginal  pos- 
sessors were  the  Mohegan  Indians,  who  opened  sev- 
eral trails  from  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys  into 
the  Schoharie  valley,  and  made  some  primitive  ef- 
forts at  agriculture.  Its  first  permanent  white  settle- 
ment appears  to  have  been  by  the  German  Palatine 
immigrants  after  their  dispersion  from  the  Livingston 
Manor.  They  arrived  in  a  condition  of  great  pov- 
erty, bearing  all  their  worldly  goods  bound  to  their 
shoulders,  and  endured  every  kind  of  discouraging 
experience  while  they  were  making  the  wilderness 
habitable.  There  was  something  infectious  in  their 
stubborn  refusal  to  be  crushed  by  hardships.  It 
spread  to  the  new  neighbors  who  gradually  moved 
into  the  valley,  which,  though  suffering  not  a  little 
from  raids  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  gradually 
blossomed  forth  with  fertile  and  well-tilled  farms, 
and  became  dotted  here  and  there  with  churches, 
schools,  mills,  and  small  factories,  the  latter  run  by 
the  local  water  powers.  It  is  because  the  resolute 
spirit  of  those  early  days  had  in  it  a  quality  of  presage 
that  I  have  drawn  upon  them  for  a  background  to 
the  opening  scenes  of  my  story. 

There  are  now,  strictly  speaking,  two  villages  of 
Central  Bridge,  five  minutes'  walk  apart.  The  old 
Central  Bridge  of  the  histories  lies  in  the  opening  of 
the  V-shaped  point  made  by  the  junction  of  Cobles- 
kill  Creek  with  the  Schoharie  River,  and  is  separated 
from  its  modern  namesake  by  the  Creek.  The  new 
village  has  grown  up  around  the  station  since  the 


"AT  FIRST,  THE  INFANT"  3 

railroad  was  run  through  the  valley.  To  the  old 
village  came,  about  1836,  one  George  Westinghouse, 
bred  a  farmer,  self-trained  a  mechanic,  with  a  special 
taste  for  carpentry.  He  represented  the  second 
generation  of  the  name  in  this  country.  Born  and 
reared  near  North  Pownal,  Vermont,  he  had  been 
stirred  by  what  he  heard  of  the  newly  opened  West, 
and  removed  soon  after  his  marriage  in  1831,  to  a 
farm  on  the  banks  of  the  Cuyahoga  River  in  Ohio, 
not  far  from  Cleveland.  The  climate,  however,  did 
not  prove  to  his  liking  or  to  his  wife's ;  so  after  a 
rather  short  stay  they  returned  to  the  East,  settling 
first  at  Minaville,  in  Montgomery  County,  New 
York.  It  is  believed  to  have  been  there  that  the 
bent  was  given  to  his  mind  which  shaped  his  whole 
after  career. 

One  of  his  neighbors  had  acquired  a  threshing  ma- 
chine, and  this,  being  a  novelty  thereabout,  interested 
Westinghouse,  who  soon  fell  to  planning  means  for 
improving  its  efficiency.  The  subject  haunted  his 
thoughts  continually,  and  his  leisure  moments  were 
often  employed  with  pencil  and  paper,  sketching  little 
designs  for  parts  which  he  conceived  could  be  re- 
modeled with  advantage.  His  wife  encouraged  him 
in  this  new  departure,  and  warmly  approved  his  sug- 
gestion that  he  might  change  his  occupation  and 
become  a  maker  of  machinery.  But  Minaville,  they 
both  felt  certain,  was  no  place  for  a  factory  of  the 
sort  he  contemplated  :  it  was  far  from  a  base  of  sup- 
plies. He  had  heard  of  Central  Bridge,  with  its  two 
abundant  water  courses,  its  system  of  highways 
radiating  in  every  direction,  and  its  convenient  dis- 


4  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

tance  from  the  growing  town  of  Schenectady.  A 
visit  of  inspection  satisfied  him  that  it  was  the  site 
he  was  looking  for,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  making  the 
move. 

Too  conservative  a  manager  to  give  up  farming 
till  he  was  entirely  assured  of  the  success  of  his  manu- 
facturing experiment,  he  bought  a  fair-sized  tract  of 
bottom  land  where  the  river  and  the  creek  meet. 
Here  stood  already  a  few  buildings,  one  of  which  he 
expanded  into  a  shop,  where  he  could  repair  the  ma- 
chinery of  a  brace  of  mills  that  were  near  by,  and 
work  out  in  wood  some  of  the  designs  he  had  sketched. 

Before  long  it  became  plain  that  he  must  choose 
definitely  between  his  two  occupations  and  devote  his 
attention  exclusively  to  one,  and,  as  a  patent  he  had 
taken  out  had  begun  to  bring  returns,  he  made  over 
most  of  his  farm  work  to  hired  hands  and  spent  his 
days  at  the  bench.  His  mechanical  operations  grad- 
ually outgrew  the  original  shop,  and  an  extension  had 
to  be  added.  This,  in  its  turn,  meant  more  capital 
and  more  help,  both  of  which  were  forthcoming  from 
the  neighborhood,  where  the  people  had  come  to 
recognize  in  him  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability. 
His  inventions  included  improvements  not  only  in 
threshing  machines,  but  in  winnowing  appliances, 
endless-chain  horse  powers,  and  several  allied  de- 
vices, as  well  as  a  seed-scraper  for  broom  corn  which 
attracted  notice  by  its  ingenuity. 

Mrs.  Westinghouse,  born  Emmeline  Vedder,  was 
of  Dutch-English  stock.  She  was  a  woman  of  strong 
common  sense,  with  a  considerable  imaginative  fac- 
ulty. Though  she  knew  too  little  of  the  mechanic 


o 

- 
O 


"AT  FIRST,  THE  INFANT "  5 

arts  to  enter  into  her  husband's  plans  in  detail,  she 
had  unbounded  faith  in  him,  and  helped  him  where 
she  could.  By  this  time  they  had  six  children, 
three  boys  and  three  girls  —  healthy,  active,  noisy 
little  folk,  whom  often  it  was  hard  to  keep  from  get- 
ting under  foot  in  their  father's  shop. 

One  autumn  evening  Mr.  Westinghouse  came  in 
looking  unusually  tired,  but  with  a  light  in  his  eye 
which  his  wife  interpreted  as  meaning  that  he  had 
caught  a  glimmer  of  hope  through  a  tangle  of  per- 
plexities which  he  had  attempted  to  explain  to  her 
the  day  before.  His  thoughts  were  so  immersed  in 
the  subject  with  which  they  had  been  struggling  all 
day  that  he  almost  failed  to  recognize  an  elderly 
woman  from  the  village  who  was  stirring  about  in- 
doors, and  whom  he  vaguely  remembered  to  have 
seen  there  on  one  or  two  former  occasions,  lending  a 
hand  at  the  household  work  and  looking  after  the 
children.  The  supper  table  was  set,  and  his  wife 
was  in  her  chair  at  her  accustomed  end,  but  not  eat- 
ing. She  did  not  rise  as  he  entered,  nor  did  she  offer 
to  assist  as  the  neighbor  helped  the  hungry  children 
into  their  places. 

The  meal  was  eaten  almost  in  silence.  The  hus- 
band was  abstracted  in  manner,  the  children  were 
repressed  by  the  presence  of  an  outsider,  the  wife  was 
reticent  as  became  her  attitude  toward  these  occa- 
sional moods  of  his,  which  she  knew  portended  some 
development  of  consequence.  When  an  opening 
came  she  inquired,  half  timidly : 

"  Has  it  been  a  good  day  for  you  ?" 

"It's  too  soon  to  speak  positively,"  he  answered, 


6  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

"but  I'm  pretty  sure  I've  got  that  connection  to 
work.  There  are  two  or  three  things  I  must  figure 
out  still." 

"You'll  have  those  by  to-morrow  night,"  she  said, 
in  the  hopeful  tone  he  knew  so  well.  "I'm  glad 
you're  near  the  end." 

"I  shall  have  all  the  figuring  done  before  I  go  to 
bed,"  he  declared.  "  I've  reached  a  point  now  where 
I  couldn't  sleep  if  I  tried,  and  I  shan't  try." 

She  made  no  attempt  to  argue  with  him  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  his  stealing  some  rest :  she  knew  too  well 
what  this  manner  signified.  As  soon  as  supper  was 
finished  she  took  the  children  with  her  to  the  upper 
story,  while  the  neighbor  rapidly  cleared  the  table, 
spread  it  with  its  colored  cover,  set  the  lamp  on  it, 
and  withdrew.  The  man  of  the  house  went  out  to 
his  shop,  and  presently  came  back  bearing  a  handful 
of  papers,  chiefly  rough  pencil  drawings  and  scraps 
covered  with  mathematical  calculations.  These  he 
laid  out  in  a  certain  order  on  the  table,  drew  up  a 
chair,  and  two  minutes  later  was  sketching  and  figur- 
ing, and  otherwise  dead  to  the  world.  His  first  re- 
lease from  the  spell  was  when  the  clock  struck  four. 
Then  he  looked  up,  stretched  himself,  and  with  a 
great  sigh  of  relief  blew  out  the  light  and  lay  down 
on  the  sofa  with  his  eyes  closed.  He  felt  that  he 
could  afford  to  take  a  brief  recess  now,  for  he  had 
brought  the  last  of  his  calculations  to  the  desired 
conclusion,  and  it  would  do  him  good  to  think  them 
over  at  his  ease,  preparatory  to  laying  hold  of  his 
tools  with  the  coming  of  daylight  and  translating  his 
theoretical  results  into  a  concrete  piece  of  machinery. 


"AT  FIRST,  THE  INFANT "  7 

It  was  after  six  o'clock  when  he  reopened  his  eyes 
with  a  start  and  sat  up.  The  sun  was  lazily  playing 
on  the  leaves  of  a  lilac  bush  that  fringed  the  window. 
He  looked  about  him,  still  too  stupid  with  sleep  to 
realize  fully  where  he  was  or  how  he  chanced  to  be 
there.  The  papers  scattered  over  the  table,  however, 
recalled  his  night's  work  and  reminded  him  that  he 
must  hasten  now  to  the  shop.  The  October  morning 
had  a  tang  of  frost  in  it,  and,  as  the  kettle  was  on  the 
back  of  the  kitchen  stove,  he  made  a  fire  and  had  a 
cup  of  hot  coffee  to  drink  with  the  hasty  breakfast 
for  which  he  foraged  while  gathering  up  his  litter 
from  the  dining  room.  He  tried  to  tiptoe  out  of  the 
house,  but  was  arrested  by  his  wife's  voice  at  the  head 
of  the  stairs,  softly  calling  his  name. 

"Yes?"  he  called  back,  somewhat  startled. 
" What's  the  matter?" 

"Are  you  going  out?     You  haven't  been  to  bed." 

"  No,  I've  been  working  all  night  on  those  drawings 
and  specifications.  Can  I  do  anything  for  you?" 

Obviously  there  was  nothing,  for  a  negative  was 
implied  in  a  brief  pause  ;  and  then  — 

"What  day  is  this?" 

"Tuesday,  the  sixth.     Why  ?  " 

"Oh"  --with  just  a  shade  of  hesitancy  —  "never 
mind.  You  won't  wait  for  breakfast?" 

"  I've  had  a  little  —  all  I  need.  Don't  wait  dinner 
for  me;  I'll  be  home  as  soon  as  I  can  drop  things." 

He  felt  a  slight  pang  of  discomfort  at  leaving  her 
thus  abruptly,  for  somehow  she  did  not  seem  quite 
herself;  but  this  was  quickly  crowded  out  by  a 
thought  of  the  shop  and  the  task  which  awaited  him 


8  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

there.  The  last  trace  of  uncertainty  passed  with 
her  cheery  response : 

"Well,  good  luck  to  the  new  invention !" 

It  was  a  busy  day.  The  morning  sped  and  noon 
came,  but  he  forgot  dinner  and  everything  else  except 
the  job  in  progress  on  the  bench.  The  afternoon 
wore  away  —  one  o'clock,  two  o'clock,  three  —  at 
last !  It  was  almost  four  when,  the  final  touches 
having  been  given  to  the  working  model,  he  strode 
out  of  the  shop  with  the  glad  step  of  a  prisoner  set 
at  liberty.  As  he  approached  the  cottage  he  missed 
the  usual  sound  of  the  children  at  play  in  the  yard. 
Opening  the  door,  he  was  about  to  shout  upstairs 
to  announce  his  accomplishment,  when  he  came  face 
to  face  with  the  neighbor,  who  held  her  finger  to  her 
lips. 

"Speak  low,  please,"  she  admonished  him.  "I've 
sent  the  children  over  to  my  son's  to  get  rid  of  their 
noise.  She's  been  asleep  about  an  hour  now.  And," 
noting  his  look  of  alarm,  "  the  baby's  a  boy,  and  a  big 
one.  He  came  at  twenty  minutes  past  eleven.  The 
doctor  got  here  just  in  time.  They're  both  all  right." 

The  baby  !  The  word  fell  upon  his  ear  with  a  sort 
of  shock,  like  the  sudden  sound  which  rouses  one 
from  a  dream.  It  was  followed  by  a  flood  of  wonder 
at  his  own  wooden  indifference,  as  the  events  of  the 
last  twenty-four  hours  moved  in  panoramic  review 
through  his  memory.  Of  course  —  here  was  the  ex- 
planation of  so  many  things  which  had  made  only 
a  shadowy  impression  on  his  mind  as  he  noticed  them  : 
his  wife's  comparative  inactivity,  the  uncommon 
quiet  of  the  house,  the  presence  of  the  elderly  neigh- 


"AT   FIRST,   THE   INFANT"  9 

bor,  the  generous,  self-effacing  thought  for  him  which 
prevented  any  suggestion  of  the  nearness  of  the  crisis 
lest  it  might  distract  his  mind  from  the  problem  on 
the  eve  of  solution  ! 

He  crept  stealthily  up  the  stairs  to  the  chamber 
in  which  the  mother  was  lying  in  bed,  very  still.  She 
had  just  awakened,  and  looked  up  at  him  with  a 
curious  smile  playing  over  her  face. 

"How  does  the  machine  come  on?" 

"It's  finished,  and  it  works." 

"Good!" 

Her  eyes  followed  him  as  he  gently  drew  aside  the 
topmost  fold  of  a  flannel  wrapping  that  swathed  a 
formless  bundle  in  a  crib  by  the  bedside. 

"Aren't  you  pleased  that  it's  a  boy?"  she  whis- 
pered. 

"I'm  glad  it's  all  over,  and  that  you  have  come 
through  so  well,"  he  answered  in  a  noncommittal 
way,  "though  I  thought  you  were  hoping  for  a  girl." 

"  I  was,  at  first ;  but  ever  since  you  began  this  last 
machine  I  have  had  it  in  my  mind  night  and  day  - 
you  seemed  so  wrapped  up  in  it.  And  then  I  began 
to  hope  we  might  have  another  boy,  so  that  he  could 
help  you  with  your  work,  and  in  course  of  time  take 
it  up  where  you  leave  it.  He  is  born  on  the  very 
day  of  your  triumph,  George,  and  I  want  him  to  be 
named  for  you." 

In  vain  the  father  protested  that  one  George  West- 
inghouse  was  enough  in  the  family  :  the  mother  would 
listen  to  no  counter  proposal.  And  thus  George 
Westinghouse,  Junior,  made  his  bow  to  the  world  on 
the  sixth  of  October,  1846. 


io  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

The  childhood  of  this  latest  addition  to  the  family 
was  not  distinguished  from  the  life  of  other  lads  in 
the  village  by  anything  that  seemed  to  point  to  the 
mark  he  was  one  day  to  make  in  the  world.  On  the 
contrary,  he  was  noted  chiefly  for  his  continual  revolt 
against  the  confinement  of  the  schoolroom,  his  dis- 
taste for  textbooks  and  routine  study,  and  his  pug- 
nacious disposition.  He  entered  more  or  less  into 
the  sports  of  his  schoolmates,  but  ordinary  games 
did  not  attract  him  strongly.  The  one  place  in  which 
he  would  rather  be  than  anywhere  else  was  his  father's 
shop.  His  father  was  resolved  that  he  should  apply 
himself  to  his  studies,  and  used  to  forbid  him  the 
shop  during  school  hours ;  but  George  was  not  in- 
clined to  yield  to  such  indirect  compulsion,  and,  if 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  on  a  given  morning  not  to 
go  to  school,  go  he  would  not,  but  would  stubbornly 
stretch  himself  on  the  grass  somewhere  and  play  for 
hours  with  a  few  pieces  of  wood,  whittling  them  into 
mechanical  shapes  and  pivoting  them  together  with 
bent  pins,  so  that  they  would  interplay  like  the 
jointed  members  of  a  piece  of  machinery.  Not  a 
few  of  the  adult  villagers  used  to  look  upon  him  with 
an  air  of  pity,  and  wonder  what  was  to  become  of 
so  ill-promising  a  boy  when  he  grew  up. 

Discriminating  observers  might  have  read  in  some 
of  his  traits  which  were  then  regarded  as  least  ami- 
able the  signs  of  a  masterful  quality.  If  he  felt  any 
specially  strong  desire,  he  would  not  brook  the  slight- 
est opposition  to  his  efforts  to  gratify  it.  When 
persistent  demands  were  unavailing,  he  would  fly 
into  a  rage  which  was  terrifying  to  behold.  Old 


& 
o 

Q 

OQ 


W 

U 


"AT  FIRST,  THE   INFANT"  11 

neighbors  of  the  family  still  remember  these  parox- 
ysms, which  took  the  form  first  of  screaming  and 
stamping,  and  then  of  throwing  himself  flat  and  bang- 
ing his  head  against  any  hard  surface  that  came  most 
convenient  —  the  floor,  the  wall  of  a  room,  the  side 
of  a  house.  Near  the  family  cottage  was  a  large  flat 
stone  on  which  he  repeatedly  thus  tried  conclusions 
with  his  skull.  If  every  one  about  him  remained 
obdurate,  he  would  keep  up  the  disturbance  till  his 
strength  was  utterly  exhausted.  Usually,  however, 
some  older  member  of  the  household,  unable  to  en- 
dure the  demonstration  longer,  would  yield  the  point 
at  issue,  and  his  tears,  cries,  and  self-torture  would 
cease  as  suddenly  as  they  had  begun.  In  either  event 
there  was  no  aftermath  of  sullenness,  but  his  return 
to  normality  was  complete.  Speaking  in  later  years 
of  these  outbursts,  he  remarked  with  whimsical  hu- 
mor:  "I  had  a  fixed  notion  that  what  I  wanted  I 
must  have.  Somehow,  that  idea  has  not  entirely 
deserted  me  throughout  my  life.  I  have  always 
known  what  I  wanted,  and  how  to  get  it.  As  a  child, 
I  got  it  by  tantrums  ;  in  mature  years,  by  hard  work." 
An  old  lady  is  still  living  who  saw  a  good  deal  of 
the  Westinghouse  family  during  their  residence  in 
Central  Bridge,  and  for  whom  George,  at  the  age  of 
six,  conceived  a  strong  attachment.  "I  remember 
just  how  he  looked  then,"  she  said  the  other  day. 
"  I  can  see  still  his  earnest  little  face,  with  its  wrinkle 
between  the  blue  eyes  as  if  he  were  already  solving 
problems,  and  the  way  he  would  turn  it  up  to  mine 
when  he  asked  some  trifling  favor.  It  is  true  that 
he  was  a  tempestuous  child,  and  would  fly  now  and 


12  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

then  into  a  fearful  passion  ;  but  I  suspect  that  he  was 
not  so  much  to  blame  for  this  as  were  his  older 
brothers  and  the  hired  men  about  the  place.  They 
all  seemed  to  take  delight  in  teasing  him,  to  see  what 
he  would  do. 

"  He  had  a  strong  side,  nevertheless,  which  showed 
itself  even  then,  and  at  times  when  you  would  least 
expect  it.  One  day  when  he  had  committed  some 
mischief  his  father  called  him  into  an  inner  room  and 
whipped  him  with  a  switch  cut  from  a  tree.  The 
switch  broke  in  two  or  three  places,  and  with  a  ges- 
ture of  impatience  Mr.  Westinghouse  threw  it  aside, 
exclaiming:  'Pshaw!  This  is  good  for  nothing.' 
George,  who  had  been  crying  lustily,  desisted  long 
enough  to  point  to  a  leather  whip  which  hung  from 
a  hook  on  the  wall,  and  say:  'There's  a  better  one, 
Father.'  His  apparent  interest  in  having  the  thing 
done  properly  if  it  must  be  done  at  all  proved  too 
much  for  his  father's  sobriety,  and  he  was  spared 
further  punishment." 


CHAPTER   II 
AGE  TWIXT  BOY  AND  YOUTH " 

NOT  long  after  George's  birth,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  West- 
inghouse,  finding  themselves  somewhat  cramped  for 
room  in  the  house  where  they  were  living,  removed 
to  a  larger  one  a  little  farther  down  the  point.  On 
the  new  premises  stood  a  sawmill  and  a  gristmill, 
the  conduct  of  which  devolved  upon  Mr.  Westing- 
house,  so  that  he  had  to  hire  more  workmen.  In  the 
new  home  three  boys  were  born :  two,  Henry  and 
Herman,  died  in  infancy ;  the  third,  Henry  Herman, 
generally  known  as  Herman,  was  named  in  memory 
of  them.  Increased  domestic  expenses,  together 
with  a  business  competition  which  was  already  mak- 
ing itself  felt,  led  Mr.  Westinghouse  to  consider 
means  of  reducing  the  cost  of  his  machines.  Though 
he  could  make  the  wooden  parts  in  his  shop  and  do 
the  assembling  there,  he  had  to  buy  all  his  metal 
castings  in  Schenectady  and  haul  them  over  by  wagon 
-  a  tedious  and  expensive  process  when  the  roads 
were  out  of  repair.  When,  therefore,  his  business 
had  sufficiently  expanded,  he  decided  to  remove  both 
factory  and  family  to  Schenectady,  and  in  1856  the 
change  was  made.  Two  partners  named  Clute  hav- 
ing joined  him,  the  firm  bought  a  building  formerly 
used  as  a  cement  mill,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Erie 


i4  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Canal  near  the  junction  of  Washington  Avenue  and 
the  River  Road,  and  turned  it  into  a  shop.  The 
main  part  of  this  is  still  standing,  though  almost 
hidden  by  the  pretentious  structures  which  have 
grown  up  around  it ;  and  one  can  trace  from  a  neigh- 
boring elevation  what  the  elements  have  left  of  the 
old  sign,  "G.  Westinghouse  &  Co.",  painted  in  black 
letters  on  the  rough  limestone  surface  of  the  eastern 
gable  end. 

During  their  residence  in  Schenectady,  the  family 
lived  in  three  houses  successively.  That  in  which 
they  finally  settled  down  about  1860  is  now  known 
as  Number  16  State  Street.  It  is  a  substantial  dwell- 
ing built  of  brick  with  stone  and  iron  trimmings,  and 
has  of  late  years  received  additions  which  about 
double  its  original  capacity.  Here  the  older  boys 
grew  to  manhood,  all  developing  the  individuality 
to  be  expected  of  the  sons  of  so  masterful  a  father. 
As  soon  as  they  reached  suitable  ages,  Mr.  Westing- 
house  took  them,  one  by  one,  into  his  shop,  for  a  drill 
in  the  rudiments  of  mechanical  work.  Jay,  the  eld- 
est, was  also  given  a  course  at  the  Polytechnic  In- 
stitute in  Troy ;  but  on  his  return  it  soon  became 
obvious  that  his  most  appropriate  place  was  else- 
where than  at  the  bench.  He  had  executive  ability 
and  a  wise  discernment,  including  a  bent  for  managing 
men  without  friction,  which  would  have  made  their 
mark  in  a  larger  field  ;  and  before  long  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  a  desk  in  the  office,  where  he  met  customers, 
engaged  workmen,  and  kept  the  accounts.  John, 
next  in  age,  had  mechanical  gifts  of  a  high  order, 
coupled  later  in  life  with  a  marked  religious  instinct 


"THE  AGE   'TWIXT   BOY  AND   YOUTH"     15 

which  led  him  to  devote  much  of  his  spare  time  to 
what  we  should  now  call  "social  work"  among  the 
less  favored  elements  in  the  community.  He  was 
particularly  successful  in  rescuing  "gang"  boys  from 
a  life  of  crime  and  starting  them  on  paths  toward  use- 
ful citizenship.  In  the  shop  he  found  metal-working 
more  to  his  taste  than  carpentry,  so  he  handled  the 
iron  parts  of  the  machines  for  which  the  wooden  parts 
were  constructed  under  his  father's  supervision. 
Albert,  the  third  son,  showed  from  the  outset  less 
taste  for  mechanics,  his  chief  natural  inclinations 
being  toward  books.  He  enjoyed  good  literature, 
and  argued  ingeniously  any  question  which  arose 
in  the  domestic  circle.  In  the  opinion  of  family 
friends,  he  might  have  had  a  brilliant  career  if  edu- 
cated for  the  bar. 

Young  George,  though  he  waked  up  more  after  the 
removal  to  Schenectady,  did  not  expand  mentally 
in  the  direction  his  father  had  hoped.  He  was  sent 
to  school,  but  took  only  a  languid  interest  in  his 
studies,  though  he  profited  somewhat  by  his  more 
enlivening  companionship.  Of  this,  however,  he 
could  not  reap  the  fullest  advantage,  as  his  father 
was  able  to  see  little  virtue  in  play,  regarding  it  simply 
as  a  form  of  idleness,  and  preferring  that  George 
should  come  into  the  shop  every  day  after  school 
hours  and  learn  how  tools  were  used  by  skilled  hands. 
But  here  came  again  the  sense  of  constraint  against 
which  every  fiber  of  the  boy's  nature  had  always  re- 
volted. To  stand  at  the  elbow  of  a  mature  man  for 
an  hour  and  watch  the  plying  of  saw  and  plane,  the 
boring  of  holes,  and  the  driving  of  screws  was  a  dreary 


i6  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

occupation  for  him.  When,  for  a  change,  he  was 
shifted  over  to  the  neighborhood  of  his  brother  John, 
and  looked  on  at  the  latter's  handling  of  the  metal 
parts,  he  felt  more  at  liberty  to  criticize,  and  before  five 
minutes  had  elapsed  the  two  lads  would  be  in  a  heated 
controversy,  in  which  the  temper  of  each  would  oc- 
casionally break  bounds.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
was  taken  away  from  all  the  rest  of  the  workers  and 
set  at  a  bench  by  himself,  with  a  pattern  before  him 
and  the  material  and  tools  at  hand  for  making  a  du- 
plicate of  it,  his  attention  would  soon  wander  from 
his  fixed  task  and  he  would  become  immersed  in  some 
mechanism  of  his  own  contriving  —  a  little  engine,  or 
a  miniature  water  wheel  with  fanciful  connections,  or 
what  not. 

Tinkering  in  this  fashion,  sometimes  alone  and 
sometimes  in  company  with  a  schoolmate  of  similar 
tastes,  he  gradually  accumulated  a  collection  of  in- 
complete machines,  which  his  conservative  father 
denounced  as  " trumpery"  and  would  from  time  to 
time  consign  to  the  scrap  heap.  Most  of  the  work- 
men found  something  amusing  in  this  conflict  of 
wills ;  but  one  day  when  Mr.  Westinghouse  had 
broken  up  and  thrown  out  an  apparatus  in  the  con- 
struction of  which  George  had  displayed  uncommon 
ingenuity,  a  good-natured  foreman  whose  sympathies 
had  been  going  out  more  and  more  strongly  toward 
the  lad  stayed  after  closing  time,  and,  without  his 
employer's  knowledge,  fitted  up  a  small  den  in  the 
loft  of  the  building.  This  he  turned  over  to  George 
for  an  amateur  workshop,  and  in  it  the  young  inventor 
passed  many  happy  hours,  and,  near  the  end  of  his 


"THE  AGE   TWIXT   BOY  AND  YOUTH"     17 

occupancy,  designed  and  built  a  model  for  a  rotary 
engine. 

After  hanging  about  the  shop  for  a  year  or  two 
in  an  irregular  way,  George  had  a  serious  talk  with 
his  father.  Mr.  Westinghouse  had  been  remon- 
strating with  him  for  his  waste  of  time,  and  con- 
trasting his  indifference  with  the  earnestness  of 
most  of  the  working  force,  when  George  unexpect- 
edly retorted : 

"  Those  men  are  paid  for  whatever  they  do  for  you. 
What  I  do  brings  me  in  nothing.5* 

It  was  the  first  sign  he  had  ever  given  of  a  thrifty 
spirit,  and  Mr.  Westinghouse  improved  the  oppor- 
tunity to  ask : 

"What  do  you  consider  your  services  worth?** 

"I  don't  know;  but  they  must  be  worth  some- 
thing." 

"Well,  George,  I'll  give  you  a  chance  to  show  what 
you  can  do.  Beginning  next  Monday,  I'll  pay  you 
fifty  cents  for  every  full  day  you  put  in  here  on  some- 
thing useful.  Saturdays,  as  there  is  no  school,  you'll 
be  able  to  work  all  day ;  other  afternoons,  you  can 
charge  up  your  work  by  the  hour  till  you  have  made 
a  whole  day.  How  will  that  suit  you?*' 

"I'm  ready  to  try  it." 

The  bargain  was  struck  on  the  spot,  and  recorded 
at  the  cashier's  desk.  But  George  was  not  yet  four- 
teen years  old,  and  had  not  lost  his  liking  for  a  play- 
spell  now  and  then ;  so  one  Saturday  when  several 
of  his  mates  were  going  off  for  a  frolic  and  urged  him 
to  accompany  them,  he  went  to  his  father  to  serve 
notice  that  he  should  not  be  at  his  post  that  after- 


i8  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

noon.  Mr.  Westinghouse  recognized  this  as  a  proper 
occasion  for  impressing  a  lesson. 

"A  good  citizen  who  makes  an  agreement  to  put 
in  his  time  working,"  said  he  solemnly,  "  doesn't 
shirk  it  at  the  first  temptation.  I  had  a  job  laid  out, 
that  I  expected  you  to  start  today." 

He  led  the  way  to  a  pile  of  pipe  which  he  wished 
cut,  and  gave  his  son  full  instructions  how  to  cut  it. 

'This  is  hard  work  and  will  take  you  some  time," 
he  added-  "perhaps  all  your  spare  hours  for  the 
first  half  of  next  week.  I'm  going  out  of  town  for  a 
few  days,  and  when  I  come  back  I  hope  to  find  the 
job  about  finished." 

George  uttered  no  protest.  While  his  father  had 
been  talking  his  own  mind  had  leaped  to  a  plan,  and 
before  noon  he  had  rigged  up  a  combination  of  tools 
which,  attached  to  a  power  machine,  would  feed  the 
pipe  and  do  the  cutting  automatically.  Then,  after 
a  few  words  of  explanation  to  the  friendly  foreman, 
who  promised  to  keep  an  eye  on  things  in  his  absence, 
he  threw  off  his  overalls  and  joined  his  comrades  for 
their  outing.  When  he  came  home  he  ran  over  to 
the  shop  and  found  all  the  pipe  cut  as  directed.  Until 
his  father  returned,  therefore,  he  was  free  to  do  what 
he  pleased. 

While  naturally  gratified  at  this  exhibition  of  the 
inventive  faculty,  Mr.  Westinghouse  became  almost 
hopeless  of  converting  so  volatile  a  boy  into  a  steady 
mechanic.  One  day  he  mentioned  the  matter  to  a 
neighbor,  a  clergyman,  who  suggested  that  perhaps 
the  lad  might  do  better  at  something  which  would 
call  into  play  his  unusually  lively  imagination. 


" THE  AGE   TWIXT  BOY  AND   YOUTH"      19 

"I've  tried  him  at  all  sorts  of  things,"  answered 
Mr.  Westinghouse,  with  a  shade  of  disappointment 
in  his  tone,  "but  his  one  desire  seems  to  be  to  avoid 
work ;  and  you  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  no  young 
man  will  ever  amount  to  anything  who  won't  work." 

11  It  would  take  a  good  deal  to  convince  me,"  said 
the  other,  "that  the  laziest  boy  in  the  world  couldn't 
be  interested  in  something,  if  you  gave  him  a  wide 
enough  range  of  choice." 

"You'd  like  to  make  a  preacher  of  him,  perhaps?" 

The  minister  ignored  the  seeming  irony  of  the 
suggestion. 

"No,  I  shouldn't  try  to  'make'  him  that  or  any- 
thing else.  If  I  have  measured  him  correctly  he  isn't 
the  kind  of  boy  you  can  shape  against  his  will.  I 
think  you  will  save  time  if  you  let  him  do  his  own  shap- 
ing, and  confine  yourself  to  encouraging  him  when  he 
finds  out  what  he  is  best  fitted  to  do." 

He  was  moving  away,  but  Mr.  Westinghouse  de- 
tained him  by  laying  a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"Look  here,  Dominie,  all  I  want  is  to  do  what  is 
right,  and  not  to  make  a  mistake  which  we'll  feel 
sorry  for  later.  Now,  you've  started  me  thinking. 
Tell  me  what  you'd  do  if  the  boy  were  yours." 

"Well,  I  suppose  I  should  not  press  him  into  spend- 
ing all  his  leisure  time  in  the  shop.  Let  him  get  out 
and  play  more.  That  will  free  his  mind,  and  by  and 
by  he'll  lay  hold  of  an  idea  that  fascinates  him,  and 
he'll  follow  it  till  it  lands  him  somewhere ;  he  merely 
hasn't  yet  found  his  place  in  the  world.  Shall  you 
send  him  to  college?" 

"He  can  go  if  he  cares  to." 


20  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

"That's  right.  I'd  even  advise  him,  if  I  were  you, 
to  take  a  course.  College  is  sometimes  a  great  eye 
opener." 

From  that  day  forward  George  was  allowed  a  little 
more  time  to  spend  as  he  chose.  To  his  father's  sur- 
prise, he  did  not  waste  it  absolutely  in  doing  nothing, 
though  he  fell  into  what  was,  in  the  elder's  eyes,  the 
next  worst  thing  —  a  habit  of  tinkering  for  hours  to- 
gether on  some  toy  device.  His  most  ambitious 
amusement,  perhaps,  was  playing  with  a  little  boat 
which  he  launched  on  the  canal,  equipped  with  a 
screw  propeller  engine  built  almost  wholly  by  his 
own  hands.  Though  it  was  never  evident  to  his 
father  or  brothers  just  what  he  was  trying  to  do  with 
this  craft,  there  appeared  to  be  lurking  in  his  own 
mind  some  conception  of  a  more  efficient  motor  than 
that  which  had  served  him  as  a  model.  Now  and 
then  his  evolutions  with  his  boat  would  result  in  its 
tipping  over,  but  he  never  suffered  any  damage  more 
severe  than  a  soaking,  for  he  had  learned  to  take  care 
of  himself  pretty  well  in  the  water.  And  thereby 
hangs  a  tale  which  we  may  as  well  recall  in  passing. 

One  of  the  young  men  in  the  Westinghouse  works 
was  William  Ratcliffe,  with  whom  for  some  time 
George  worked  at  the  same  bench.  They  grew  to  be 
fast  friends,  and  used  to  put  in  their  infrequent  holi- 
days at  some  job  of  their  own  concocting.  Mr.  Rat- 
cliffe still  owns  a  sleigh  which  they  built  thus  in  part- 
nership, and  which  is  as  good  today  as  on  the  day  they 
put  it  together.  They  also  took  a  fancy  at  one  time 
to  make  violins.  George  had  studied  the  mechanism 
of  one,  and  believed  that  he  could  not  only  construct 


"THE  AGE   TWIXT  BOY  AND  YOUTH"     21 

an  instrument  but  learn  to  play  it  if  he  could  find  the 
right  teacher.  A  few  practical  efforts  in  that  line, 
however,  convinced  him  that  he  had  no  ear,  and  he 
gave  up  the  notion. 

Ratcliffe  was  fond  of  swimming  and  soon  taught 
George  the  art ;  and  in  the  warm  weather  the  pair 
used  to  frequent  a  spot  in  the  Mohawk  which  was  a 
favorite  with  the  town  boys,  who  varied  their  frolics 
in  the  water  with  a  few  on  land,  like  tying  one  an- 
other's clothes  into  hard  knots,  or  spiriting  them  away 
and  leaving  the  owners  to  prowl  around  for  a  half- 
hour  unclad.  To  guard  against  such  tricks,  the  more 
prudent  of  the  bathers  fell  into  the  way  of  hiding 
their  garments  in  remote  places.  George  became 
so  enthusiastic  about  swimming  and  diving  that  dur- 
ing the  season  his  mind  was  full  of  these  sports  when- 
ever not  immediately  occupied  with  the  work  he  had 
in  hand.  One  night  his  parents  were  awakened  by 
a  sound  as  of  some  heavy  body  falling  in  an  adjoining 
chamber.  Running  in  there,  they  found  George 
squirming  about  on  the  floor  stark  naked.  Their 
questions  at  first  evoked  only  a  stupid  attempt  at 
response ;  but,  as  his  mind  gradually  cleared,  he  ex- 
plained that  he  had  been  dreaming  of  being  on  the 
river  bank,  and,  divesting  himself  of  his  scant  rai- 
ment, he  had  dived  from  his  bed  into  what  he  imag- 
ined was  deep  water,  and  by  a  narrow  chance  had 
escaped  without  broken  bones.  Then  came  a  search 
for  his  nightgown,  which,  under  the  spell  of  his  dream, 
he  had  taken  pains  to  hide  from  his  prankish  play- 
mates. All  over  the  upper  story  of  the  house  prowled 
father,  mother,  and  son,  peering  into  every  nook  and 


22  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

cranny  which  seemed  likely  to  have  attracted  him, 
but  in  vain :  and  it  was  not  till  several  days  after- 
ward that  the  missing  garment  was  accidentally  dis- 
covered, squeezed  behind  a  trunk  which  stood  flat 
against  the  wall. 

The  school  George  attended  was  in  a  building  at 
the  corner  of  Union  and  College  streets,  which,  hav- 
ing passed  through  a  half-century  of  vicissitudes,  had 
little  about  it  to  gratify  the  eye  or  stimulate  the  am- 
bition of  the  young  people  under  its  roof.  To  his 
father's  suggestion  that  he  prepare  for  college,  George 
had  assented  less  because  it  appealed  to  him  than 
because  he  had  no  particular  argument  to  raise 
against  it.  A  few  of  his  schoolfellows  of  this  period 
are  still  living  in  Schenectady,  and  remember  George 
as  a  rather  inept  pupil.  It  was  not  that  his  mind 
was  dull ;  but  the  books  he  was  required  to  study 
failed  as  a  rule  to  stir  his  imagination,  and  he  had  only 
an  indifferent  gift  of  self-expression.  However  good 
an  understanding  he  might  have  of  a  subject,  as  soon 
as  he  was  called  to  his  feet  before  his  class,  his  power 
of  translating  thought  into  words  seemed  to  suffer  a 
temporary  paralysis,  and  he  would  stumble  through 
the  exercise  as  if  he  were  trusting  wholly  to  guesswork. 
Penmanship  and  spelling  gave  him  a  deal  of  trouble, 
and  he  found  grammar  a  deadly  burden.  This  puz- 
zled most  of  his  teachers,  because  his  logical  faculties, 
when  applied  to  something  which  had  captured  his 
fancy,  struck  them  as  considerably  above  the  average. 
He  was  also  keen  as  to  everything  mathematical, 
and  in  free-hand  drawing  he  excelled  all  competitors 
with  circles  that  were  round,  and  lines  that  were 


"THE  AGE   TWIXT  BOY  AND  YOUTH"     23 

straight,  and  angles  that  measured  the  required  num- 
ber of  degrees. 

Only  one  member  of  the  school  faculty  appears  to 
have  fully  comprehended  him.  This  was  a  woman 
who  combined  unusual  skill  as  an  instructor  with  a 
most  attractive  personality  and  a  sympathetic  man- 
ner. George  surrendered  himself  unreservedly  to 
her  gentle  sway.  She  seemed  to  recognize  in  him  a 
certain  quality  not  found  in  the  other  boys  she 
taught,  and  to  have  an  intuitive  sense  of  the  reasons 
why  he  hated  one  thing  and  liked  another  with  such 
intensity ;  and  she  adapted  her  treatment  of  him  to 
these  peculiarities.  As  a  result,  he  was  almost  ro- 
mantic in  his  attachment  to  her,  and  the  impress 
she  made  on  his  life  was  always  gratefully  acknowl- 
edged by  him,  his  appreciation  manifesting  itself 
in  many  kindnesses  he  was  able  to  extend  to  her 
in  later  years. 

In  the  midst  of  his  preparatory  schooling  came  on 
the  Civil  War,  and  George,  though  only  fourteen  years 
of  age,  was  smitten  with  the  prevalent  martial  fever. 
So  were  two  of  his  brothers,  Albert  and  John. 
Mr.  Westinghouse  was  an  ardent  patriot,  but  he 
knew  little  of  the  spirit  with  which  the  Southern 
States  had  entered  the  Confederacy,  and  believed, 
like  so  many  other  loyalists  in  the  North,  that  the 
hostilities  would  not  last  long  after  the  Government 
had  made  a  real  show  of  strength.  Hence,  when 
the  older  boys  expressed  their  purpose  to  enlist,  he 
advised  them  to  wait  a  while,  and  they  reluctantly 
consented.  John  persisted,  however,  in  hovering 
about  the  recruiting  officers  who  came  that  way,  and 


24  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

used  to  regale  George,  as  they  worked  together  on 
Saturdays,  with  a  rehearsal  of  the  war  stories  gleaned 
from  these  men.  George  had  gradually  developed 
a  preference  for  working  in  metals  over  working  in 
wood  ;  John  had  encouraged  this  tendency,  and  they 
had  formed  a  habit  of  cooperating  in  various  small- 
scale  engineering  enterprises.  Their  talks  about  sol- 
diering had  stimulated  George  to  a  degree  where  he 
was  ready  to  do  something  desperate  for  the  sake  of 
getting  a  taste  of  the  real  experience.  In  his  own 
mind  he  reasoned  out  the  situation  about  like  this : 
Albert  and  John  both  wished  to  go  to  war  but  were 
prevented  because  they  had  been  so  imprudent  as  to 
mention  the  subject  in  the  family  circle ;  his  wise 
plan,  therefore,  would  be  to  avoid  interference  by 
holding  his  tongue  till  the  psychological  moment, 
and  then  running  away. 

He  was  tall  for  his  age,  and  uncommonly  mature 
of  countenance ;  and  though  his  figure  was  spare, 
his  large  bones  and  good  muscles  indicated  that  he 
would  in  due  time  acquire  a  sturdy  build.  Unfor- 
tunately for  his  project,  he  was  by  nature  too  candid 
to  be  a  successful  secret-keeper;  and  this  trait,  as 
well  as  a  boyish  craving  for  companionship,  led  him 
to  take  half  a  dozen  of  his  best  friends  into  his  con- 
fidence and  propose  that  they  all  run  away  together 
and  not  return  till  they  had  distinguished  themselves 
by  deeds  of  valor  on  the  battlefield.  The  suggestion 
was  not  generally  received  with  warmth ;  many  of 
the  boys  agreed  that  it  would  be  a  great  lark,  but  did 
not  dare  invite  the  parental  wrath  by  so  bold  a  de- 
fiance ;  others  thought  they  might  try  it  later,  after 


"THE  AGE  TWIXT   BOY  AND  YOUTH"     25 

they  saw  how  their  home-folk  took  the  news  of  some 
other  fellow's  escapade.  When  the  time  for  a  final 
decision  arrived,  only  one  comrade  was  ready  to  go 
with  him  the  whole  length,  and  at  once. 

One  morning  Mrs.  Westinghouse  had  occasion  to 
call  upon  George  to  do  an  errand  for  her,  but  was 
unable  to  find  him  anywhere  about  the  house.  She 
felt  sure  that  he  had  not  gone  to  school,  for  his  strap- 
ful  of  books  still  lay  where  he  had  tossed  it  the  after- 
noon before.  Having  looked  for  him  upstairs  and 
down,  and  called  his  name  repeatedly  from  front 
windows  and  back,  she  gave  up  the  search.  A  neigh- 
bor came  in  breathless,  with  the  information  that 
George  had  been  seen  that  morning  walking  toward 
the  railroad  station  with  a  carpetbag  in  his  hand, 
and  apparently  trying  to  avoid  observation. 

"Are  you  positive  it  was  my  George?"  demanded 
the  mother,  too  astonished  to  trust  her  hearing. 

"  There  is  no  question  about  it,"  the  visitor  assured 
her;  "and  one  of  the  boys  next  door  says  George 
has  been  telling  him  for  some  time  that  he  was  watch- 
ing his  chance  to  run  away  and  go  to  war." 

In  another  minute  Mrs.  Westinghouse  had  dis- 
patched her  housemaid  to  the  Works  with  a  message 
to  her  husband,  apprising  him  of  these  unexpected 
developments.  The  good  man  did  not  seem  at  all 
upset,  but,  with  a  quick  glance  at  the  clock,  reached 
for  his  hat  and  quitted  the  building. 

George,  meanwhile,  having  put  into  a  carpetbag 
a  few  essential  articles  of  clothing,  had  slipped  away 
soon  after  breakfast  and  taken  his  course  through 
back  streets  and  alleys  to  the  station,  where  an  ac- 


26  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

commodation  train  was  made  up  daily  for  the  East. 
He  found  his  co-conspirator  already  on  hand,  though 
not  quite  so  enthusiastic  as  at  their  latest  previous 
meeting,  and,  as  they  had  a  few  minutes  to  wait, 
George  improved  the  time  by  pumping  fresh  vigor 
into  the  other  boy's  resolution  ;  then,  the  train  having 
drawn  up  on  the  track  in  front  of  them,  they  were 
able  to  enter  the  nearest  car  and  settle  down  in  a 
forward  seat  headed  for  their  hearts'  desire.  The 
minutes  lagged  like  hours  while  the  adult  passengers 
climbed  on  one  by  one,  and  George  had  considerable 
difficulty  in  keeping  his  back  turned  toward  the  rear 
of  the  car  in  such  a  way  as  to  elude  recognition  by 
any  of  his  parents'  friends  who  might  be  traveling 
that  morning. 

At  last  the  fateful  instant  came.  The  conductor 
sounded  his  brisk  warning  outside,  "All  aboard!", 
entered  the  car  in  which  the  boys  sat,  and  promptly 
reached  for  the  bell  rope.  Before  he  had  a  chance  to 
pull  it,  however,  appeared  another  actor  on  the  scene. 
He  was  a  man  about  fifty  years  of  age,  of  stalwart 
frame,  clad  in  a  gray  cloth  suit  and  a  soft  hat,  and 
wearing  an  expression  on  his  face  which  was  certainly 
serious  and  perhaps  a  trifle  stern.  Boarding  the 
train  as  if  he  owned  it,  he  called  to  the  conductor  to 
wait  a  moment.  Everybody  in  the  car  turned  to 
see  who  thus  peremptorily  held  it  back  —  everybody, 
that  is,  except  George :  he  did  not  need  to  turn,  for 
he  had  recognized  the  voice,  and  a  sudden  chill  had 
run  down  his  spine  as  he  heard  it.  He  was  conscious 
that  the  newcomer  was  taking  long  strides  through 
the  car  from  rear  to  front ;  then  he  glanced  up  to  see 


"THE  AGE  TWIXT   BOY  AND  YOUTH"     27 

his  father  standing  before  him,  with  a  beckoning 
finger  outstretched.  Mr.  Westinghouse  was  not  at 
all  excited  in  manner,  or  apparently  out  of  breath, 
though  he  had  been  obliged  to  hurry  more  than 
was  his  wont.  He  uttered  no  reproaches,  he  did 
not  even  raise  his  voice  above  its  ordinary  pitch 
as  he  said:  " George,  I  guess  you'd  better  come 
back  home !" 

As  was  customary  with  any  one  to  whom  Mr. 
Westinghouse  began  a  suggestion  with  his  charac- 
teristic "I  guess  you'd  better,"  no  time  was  wasted 
about  complying.  There  was  no  debate,  no  ques- 
tioning, no  explanation  or  other  dilatory  recourse. 
George,  thoroughly  crestfallen,  fished  out  his  carpet- 
bag from  under  the  seat  and  followed  his  father  to 
the  rear  door  and  down  the  platform  steps,  looking 
to  neither  right  nor  left.  He  was  dimly  aware  that 
his  martial-minded  companion  was  treading  closely 
on  his  heels,  and  that  the  feet  of  the  trio  were  barely 
firm  on  the  ground  before  the  belated  bell  rang,  the 
whistle  responded,  and  the  train  which  was  to  have 
borne  him  to  glory  was  off  without  him. 

Mr.  Westinghouse  walked  home  with  his  son  and 
saw  him  start  for  school,  where  a  tardy  mark  was 
waiting  for  him ;  this  he  did  not  mind  very  much, 
but  there  was  also  a  sardonic  grin  on  the  faces  of  some 
of  the  mates  to  whom  he  had  confided  his  plans,  and 
this  he  did  mind  a  good  deal.  However,  his  feelings 
were  considerably  salved  when  he  met  his  family  at 
the  noonday  meal  and  observed  their  general  dis- 
position to  ignore  the  incident  till,  just  before  they 
were  leaving  the  table,  his  father  said:  " Perhaps, 


28  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

George,  when  you  are  old  enough  to  know  your  own 
mind  and  understand  what  it  all  means  —  if  the  war 
lasts  till  then  —  you  may  be  free  to  go.  But  don't 
count  on  it  too  surely.  I  hope  there'll  be  an  end  to 
the  fighting  long  before  that." 


CHAPTER   III 
SOLDIER  AND  SAILOR,  STUDENT  AND  SWAIN 

BY  the  summer  of  1862,  Mr.  Westinghouse  had 
changed  his  mind  about  the  duration  of  the  war,  and 
in  August  Albert  enlisted  in  the  Sixth  New  York 
Volunteer  Cavalry.  During  the  ill-fated  advance 
toward  Richmond  in  the  spring  of  1863  he  was  taken 
prisoner  at  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  but  was 
paroled  a  few  days  later,  and  in  September  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Second  New  York  Veteran  Volunteer 
Cavalry,  with  a  lieutenant's  commission.  Mean- 
while conscription  had  begun,  a  drawing  was  an- 
nounced to  be  held  in  Schenectady,  and  John  was 
able  to  face  his  father  with  the  fact  that  the  only 
alternative  now  lay  between  offering  his  services  to 
the  Government  voluntarily  and  taking  his  chance 
of  having  to  render  them  under  compulsion.  Mr. 
Westinghouse  admitted  that  this  was  true,  and  with- 
drew all  further  objection  to  his  volunteering.  He 
therefore  took  immediate  advantage  of  an  offer,  made 
him  some  time  before,  of  an  appointment  as  an  Acting 
Third  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  navy,  and  set  off  for 
Washington  to  see  about  it. 

George,  spurred  to  fresh  activity  by  John's  ex- 
ample, reopened  the  subject  with  his  father  by  a 


30  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

reminder  that  he  was  now  nearly  seventeen,  sound 
and  strong,  and  presumably  as  well  able  as  he  would 
be  later  to  judge  for  himself  in  such  matters. 

"Perhaps  you  are  right,  my  son,"  assented 
Mr.  Westinghouse,  and  that  afternoon  George  packed 
his  effects  for  the  next  move. 

As  John  had  procured  his  commission  through  his 
father's  partners,  one  of  whom  possessed  consider- 
able influence  with  their  Representative  in  Congress, 
George  went  to  them  to  find  out  whether  they  could 
not  get  for  him  also  an  appointment  to  a  position 
where  he  would  have  machinery  to  handle,  and  an 
assignment  to  the  same  ship  on  which  John  was  serv- 
ing. When  they  told  him  that  that  was  out  of  the 
question,  he  decided  to  try  for  the  army  instead,  in 
the  hope  that  by  some  good  luck  he  might  find  his 
way  to  where  his  brother  Albert  was.  Accordingly, 
he  sought  a  recruiting  station  in  New  York,  where 
he  laid  his  desires  before  the  officer  in  charge. 

"I'm  afraid,"  remarked  that  gentleman,  eyeing 
him  critically,  and  with  a  half-repressed  smile  which 
George  could  not  then  understand,  "we  can't  do  all 
you  wish  right  away.  Just  now  it  looks  as  if  Lee's 
army  may  break  through  into  Pennsylvania,  and  we 
are  busy  enlisting  an  emergency  force  to  drive  him 
back  if  he  attempts  it.  You've  never  served  before, 
you  say?" 

"No,"  said  George,  "I'm  only  seventeen,  and  my 
father's  kept  me  back  till  now." 

The  officer's  face  sobered  again,  and  his  voice  was 
very  kindly  as  he  replied  : 

"I  see  —  I  see.     Well,  how  would  you  like  to  try 


GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 
From  a  War  Time  Portrait 


SOLDIER,   SAILOR,   STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    31 

the  thirty-days'  service  for  a  start  ?  It  will  give  you 
a  little  experience,  and  show  you  how  well  soldiering 
agrees  with  you.  We're  trying  to  fill  up  the  Twelfth. 
Will  you  sign?" 

"  What  position  can  I  get  in  the  regiment,  if  I  do  ?" 

"  I  fancy  you  will  have  to  take  a  gun  and  a  knap- 
sack, my  boy,  until  you've  proved  what's  in  you. 
Once  in  the  field,  it  will  depend  on  yourself  how  far 
up  you  climb." 

"All  right.     That  suits  me." 

George  signed  the  roll  and  dropped  into  his  place 
at  the  tail  of  a  squad  who  were  about  to  be  looked 
over  by  the  surgeon.  Two  days  later  he  was  off  for 
the  front. 

At  the  end  of  his  brief  experimental  term,  which 
was  marked  by  no  exciting  episode,  he  was  more  de- 
sirous than  ever  of  seeing  some  real  soldier  life ;  so 
he  offered  himself  as  a  three-years'  recruit  for  the 
Sixteenth  New  York  Volunteer  Cavalry.  Here  he 
renewed  his  inquiry  about  a  commission. 

"You  are  rather  young  to  shoulder  the  responsi- 
bilities of  an  officer,"  was  the  answer. 

''But  I've  already  been  broken  in,"  he  pleaded, 
"and  I've  learned  a  thing  or  two  about  taking  care 
of  men." 

"  Why  don't  your  raise  a  company  of  your  own,  then, 
and  command  it?" 

"  I  would  in  a  minute,  if  I  had  the  chance." 

"That  can  be  managed,  I  dare  say,  as  far  as  the 
chance  is  concerned.  Where  would  you  go  for  your 
men?" 

"Back  in  Schoharie  County,  where  I  was  born. 


32  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

I  know  lots  of  fellows  out  there  who'd  enlist  if  we  only 
got  hold  of  them  the  right  way." 

To  his  surprise  and  pleasure,  George  received  the 
next  morning  an  assignment  to  recruiting  duty  in  the 
district  he  had  named,  coupled  with  the  condition 
that,  if  he  brought  back  fifty  acceptable  men,  he 
would  be  recommended  for  a  lieutenancy.  He  went 
off  in  high  spirits,  visiting  first  his  old  home,  Central 
Bridge,  which  he  found  pretty  well  stripped  of  avail- 
able material,  though  two  men  promised  to  join  his 
troop.  At  Schoharie,  Middleburg,  and  other  well- 
settled  points  in  the  county,  he  discovered  a  like 
state  of  affairs.  Then  he  pushed  for  the  outlying 
country.  A  favorite  resort  of  his  boyhood  had  been 
the  picturesque  neighborhood  of  Fultonham,  where 
Lorenzo  Stewart,  an  old  and  valued  employee  of  his 
father's,  was  living.  Stewart  took  a  lively  interest 
in  George's  errand,  but  held  out  few  hopes  of  success. 

"I  suspect  this  part  of  the  county  is  short  of  the 
kind  of  young  men  you  are  after,"   he  explained, 
going  over  the  names,  one  by  one,  of  the  farmer  boys 
they  both  knew.     Most  of  the  eligibles,  it  appeared, 
had  already  gone  south  with  the  I34th  New  York. 

"All  right,"  said  George,  "then  I'll  try  my  luck 
with  the  slouters." 

"Slouters"  was  the  cant  term  used  locally  to  desig- 
nate a  thriftless  class  of  people  who  lived  back  among 
the  hills,  subsisting  ordinarily  nobody  knew  how, 
and  descending  into  the  valleys  only  when  cold  or 
hunger  forced  them  to  seek  a  short  job  of  work. 

"It  will  do  you  no  good  to  go  there,  either," 
Stewart  assured  him.  "John  Cater  has  got  ahead 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    33 

of  you.  He  came  back  from  the  army,  all  dressed 
up  and  sleek-looking,  and  carried  off  every  slouter 
in  sight." 

But  George  was  out  for  game,  and  would  not  let 
himself  be  diverted  from  his  quest.  Stewart  stood 
by  him  manfully,  and  took  pains  to  see  that  he  should 
be  included  in  all  the  "apple  cuts"  and  other  rustic 
merrymakings  held  thereabout  during  his  stay.  The 
fine-looking  young  soldier  in  his  smart  uniform 
created  no  slight  flutter  among  the  assembled 
maidens,  and  put  their  swains  to  the  blush  for  some 
excuse  for  not  themselves  wearing  the  blue.  George 
thoroughly  enjoyed  his  visit  among  the  scenes  of  his 
childhood,  now  that  he  had  become  a  person  of  more 
consequence.  It  was  a  sore  disappointment,  how- 
ever, that  he  could  pick  up  only  his  two  recruits  at 
Central  Bridge  and  fifteen  elsewhere  in  the  county ; 
but  with  this  small  contingent  he  reported  at  head- 
quarters, nursing  the  hope  that  a  commission  might 
be  issued  to  him  in  view  of  all  he  had  tried  to  do. 

"Too  bad,  my  boy,  but  you  can't  turn  seventeen 
into  fifty,"  was  the  good-humored  but  positive  re- 
sponse to  all  his  arguments.  Back  to  the  war,  there- 
fore, went  George  again  as  a  private  soldier.  Of 
what  he  did  and  how  he  fared  in  his  second  term  of 
service,  not  much  is  known,  beyond  the  fact  that  the 
experience  was  in  some  respects  disappointing.  He 
had  joined  the  cavalry  expecting  that  it  would  be 
easier  to  ride  than  to  walk,  but  was  disillusioned  by 
the  discovery  that  he  would  have  to  take  care  of  his 
horse  every  night  before  getting  any  rest  for  himself. 
His  campaigning  was  confined  to  northern  Virginia ; 


34  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

it  consisted  chiefly  of  scouting  duty,  designed  to  out- 
wit the  tricks  of  Mosby's  guerrillas  and  involving  a 
maximum  of  hard  work  for  a  minimum  of  glory. 

Although  in  later  years  he  enjoyed  his  participation 
in  the  war  as  a  reminiscence,  he  never  volunteered  it 
as  a  topic  of  conversation.  When  some  other  veteran 
of  the  citizen  soldiery  was  dining  with  him  they  would 
exchange  recollections,  or  when  some  of  his  more 
youthful  guests  would  question  him  he  would  talk 
most  pleasantly  about  his  army  life,  telling  how  he 
and  his  camp  mates  soaked  their  hard-tack  in  frying- 
pan  grease  to  make  it  eatable,  and  cooked  bacon  and 
chicken  in  the  open  fire  wrapped  in.  paper  and 
smothered  in  clay ;  how  they  captured  a  pig  against 
orders ;  how  he  once  made  a  bread  pudding  with  his 
own  hands  and  how  good  it  tasted ;  what  happened 
to  him  on  picket  duty,  and  the  like.  To  all  who 
heard  him  tell  these  stories,  it  was  a  subject  of  regret 
that  during  his  military  service  he  kept  no  diary  or 
other  personal  memoranda.  He  was  not  fond  of 
composition,  and  only  a  few  fragments  of  his  sparse 
correspondence  are  still  preserved. 

From  a  letter  sent  home  in  December  by  a  Sche- 
nectady  boy  in  the  Second  New  York  Veteran  Cav- 
alry, we  learn  that  George  had  recently  been  at  Camp 
Stoneman,  near  Washington,  to  visit  his  brother 
Albert,  then  a  lieutenant  with  a  splendid  record  for 
gallantry  and  efficiency.  From  the  same  note  it 
appears  that  a  man-of-war  had  just  arrived  at  the 
Washington  Navy  Yard  with  John  Westinghouse 
aboard,  and  that  the  brothers  were  to  have  a  reunion. 
Odds  and  ends  of  information,  gathered  from  various 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    35 

sources  and  pieced  together,  indicate  that  all  three 
boys  were  furloughed  to  spend  Christmas  with  their 
friends  in  the  North.  A  family  gathering  was  to  be 
held  at  the  house  of  a  relative  in  New  York,  and  the 
brothers,  with  a  young  cousin,  were  on  the  way  to  it 
when,  as  they  passed  the  barracks  in  City  Hall  Park, 
Albert  left  his  companions  to  enter  the  building  for  a 
brief  errand.  He  rejoined  them  in  a  few  minutes 
with  an  air  of  deep  concern. 

"  I  can't  go  with  you,  after  all,"  he  said.  "  I  must 
return  to  camp  at  once."  With  that  he  shook  hands 
all  round  in  farewell  and  reentered  the  barracks. 
Their  glimpse  of  his  receding  figure  as  the  door  closed 
behind  him  was  the  last  any  of  the  party  ever  saw  of 
him.  A  little  later  he  and  his  men  sailed  for  New 
Orleans. 

On  Christmas  day,  1864,  just  one  year  after  the 
marred  festivity,  it  fell  to  Herman,  then  a  lad  of 
eleven,  to  break  to  his  parents  the  news  of  Albert's 
death  in  the  battle  of  McLeod's  Mills,  Louisiana. 
He  received  it  from  a  neighbor  who  had  lost  a  son  in 
the  same  fight.  Mr.  Westinghouse  bore  the  blow 
with  the  stoic  resignation  of  a  man  who  had  long  ago 
counted  the  cost ;  Mrs.  Westinghouse  was  terribly 
broken  by  it,  and  was  never  the  same  woman  after- 
ward. Albert  had  been  distinctly  the  "  mother's 
boy  "  of  the  little  group. 

A  few  months  before  this,  George,  who  still  had  a 
yearning  to  try  his  hand  at  marine  engineering,  had 
decided  to  shift  from  the  army  to  the  navy.  Soon 
after  joining  the  cavalry  he  had  risen  to  be  a  corporal, 
but  promotion  beyond  that  threatened  to  be  slow; 


36  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

and  on  December  I,  1864,  by  virtue  of  his  good  mili- 
tary record,  and  of  an  examination  which,  thanks  to 
his  mechanical  training,  he  passed  with  marked  credit, 
he  was  appointed  an  Acting  Third  Assistant  Engineer, 
and  ordered  at  once  to  duty  on  the  ship  Muscoota. 
Later  he  served  on  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  in  the 
Potomac  flotilla.  His  friend  Ratcliffe,  loyal  to  their 
youthful  companionship,  lent  him  a  lathe  to  keep  on 
shipboard,  and  with  its  aid  he  improved  his  odd 
hours  in  building  a  small  model  of  a  sawbuck  engine. 

The  next  year  the  war  ended.  George  came  home 
in  the  summer,  and  John,  who  meanwhile  had  been 
promoted  one  grade,  followed  late  in  the  autumn. 
George  showed  a  marked  improvement  as  the  result 
of  his  experience  in  the  armed  service.  Before  leav- 
ing home  he  had  been  considerably  developed  on  his 
social  side  and  learned  to  control  his  temper,  through 
his  association  with  so  many  boys  of  his  own  age  at 
the  high  school.  To  this  his  discipline  as  soldier 
and  sailor  had  added  the  habit  of  standing  straighter 
and  bearing  himself  with  dignity,  and  of  applying  a 
keener  observation  to  everything.  He  never  seemed 
to  be  seeking  for  new  ideas,  but  absorbed  them  wher- 
ever he  went,  and  after  they  had  been  duly  digested 
they  always  bore  fruit  in  experiment.  His  father 
was  pleased  with  his  increased  manliness  and  quick- 
ened senses,  but  did  not  understand  his  mental  pro- 
cesses much  better  than  of  old ;  to  all  his  family, 
indeed,  he  still  seemed  a  good  deal  of  a  dreamer. 

It  was  doubtless  this  conception  which  prompted 
his  father  to  remind  him,  within  a  few  days  of  his 
return,  of  his  agreement  to  take  a  college  course.  He 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    37 

did  not  need  the  reminder,  having  already  begun 
preparation  for  his  academic  martyrdom  by  taking 
some  of  his  old  school  textbooks  from  the  shelf  on 
which  they  had  lain  untouched  during  his  absence, 
and  running  over  a  few  subjects  on  which  he  felt  un- 
certain. The  records  of  Union  College  show  that 
he  was  admitted  to  the  scientific  department,  sopho- 
more class,  on  the  fifteenth  of  September,  1865.  The 
college  then  contained  one  hundred  and  ninety 
students,  all  of  whom,  according  to  the  published 
rules,  were  expected  to  live  on  the  campus,  though 
in  George's  case  this  requirement  was  relaxed  at  his 
father's  solicitation  so  that  he  could  live  at  home. 

Of  the  personality  of  George  at  this  period  we  glean 
a  hint  here  and  there  which  shows  that  it  must  have 
impressed  the  minds  of  his  mates  rather  deeply  in 
order  to  have  enabled  them  to  remember  it  as  well 
as  some  of  them  do  after  the  lapse  of  a  half  century. 
The  Reverend  Walter  Scott  of  Boston,  for  example, 
pictures  him  as  a  tall,  well-proportioned  young  man, 
with  an  air  of  self-reliance  and  an  unusually  mature 
appearance.  "I  recall,"  says  Mr.  Scott,  "his  ener- 
getic walk  across  the  campus  to  the  engineering  rooms. 
He  had  the  manner  of  a  man  with  a  definite  purpose, 
pursuing  a  straight  course  toward  that  end.  I  think 
he  mingled  little  with  the  students,  owing  probably 
to  his  absorption  in  mechanical  studies  and  also  to 
the  fact  that  he  had  no  room  in  the  college  buildings." 

Other  contemporaries  bear  like  witness,  though 
none  whom  I  have  been  able  to  reach  has  gone 
much  into  detail  as  to  George's  mode  of  life  before 
and  after  his  working  hours,  his  associations,  or  his 


38  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

nontechnical  tastes.  One  reason  for  this  perhaps 
lies  in  the  shortness  of  his  collegiate  career,  for 
he  left  about  the  Christmas  holidays.  His  class 
register  gives  him  a  mark  of  12.50  for  the  fall  term, 
the  highest  mark  won  by  any  one  for  the  year  being 
25.50.  These  figures  are  not  especially  enlightening, 
as  the  scale  on  which  they  were  based  cannot  now  be 
ascertained;  but  the  weight  of  evidence  indicates 
that  he  did  not  distinguish  himself  in  the  sphere  of 
book-learning.  He  was  repeatedly  absent  with  no 
better  excuse  than  his  desire  to  look  on  at  some  me- 
chanical operation  then  in  progress  in  the  town  or 
neighborhood,  appearing  quite  oblivious  of  the  fact 
that  college  classes  could  not  be  conducted  on  a  basis 
of  haphazard  attendance. 

The  lines  of  study  pursued  during  the  fall  term 
were  the  French  and  German  languages,  solid  geom- 
etry, and  English  rhetoric,  essays,  and  vocal  train- 
ing. In  the  geometry  sessions  he  seems  to  have  had 
no  difficulty  in  keeping  his  attention  fixed,  but  the 
English  branches  were  tiresome  to  him.  For  the 
foreign  tongues  he  had  neither  taste  nor  talent,  and 
made  no  secret  of  the  fact.  Professor  William  Wells, 
who  taught  them,  used  to  declare  as  the  frviit  of  a 
long  experience  that  it  was  folly  to  attempt  to  proph- 
esy the  man  from  the  boy,  citing  the  case  of  young 
Westinghouse  as  his  most  potent  illustration.  "He 
was  my  despair/'  Doctor  Wells  would  explain.  "  Not 
only  was  it  impossible  to  stir  his  active  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  class,  but,  while  the  other  boys  were 
struggling  with  German  syntax  or  French  pronuncia- 
tion, he  would  amuse  himself  making  pencil  drawings 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    39 

on  his  wristbands.  His  sketches  were  always  of 
locomotives,  stationary  engines,  or  something  of  that 
sort." 

In  view  of  the  way  he  had  spent  so  much  of  his 
time,  George  was  not  greatly  surprised  at  receiving 
a  message  one  day  from  Doctor  Hickok,  the  acting 
head  of  the  college,  asking  him  to  call  at  the  presi- 
dent's office,  and  he  responded  in  expectation  of  a 
severe  scolding  if  nothing  worse.  It  did  surprise 
him  to  have  the  Doctor  greet  him  in  the  pleasantest 
manner,  invite  him  to  be  seated,  and  open  their  con- 
versation with  the  inquiry : 

"  Westinghouse,  how  do  you  like  college,  now  that 
you  have  given  it  a  little  trial?" 

For  a  moment  George  was  at  a  loss  for  an  answer ; 
he  could  not  honestly  say  that  he  liked  it,  though  on 
the  other  hand  he  was  fair-minded  enough  to  realize 
that  this  was  less  the  fault  of  the  college  than  his  own. 

"I  dare  say  I  should  like  it  very  well,"  he  said, 
after  a  short  pause,  "if  I  had  time  to  give  my  mind 
to  my  studies."  He  then  proceeded  to  explain  at 
length  certain  inventions  he  was  engaged  in  trying 
to  develop. 

It  was  now  Doctor  Hickok's  turn  to  be  taken  at  a 
disadvantage ;  he  had  not  looked  for  such  frankness, 
or  for  so  lucid  an  exposition  of  the  mechanical  prin- 
ciples involved  in  George's  plans. 

" After  what  you  have  told  me,"  said  he,  "it  is 
plain  that  you  would  be  wasting  your  time  and  your 
gifts  in  staying  here  and  pursuing  studies  in  which 
you  have  no  heart.  I  will  see  your  father  at  once, 
and  put  your  case  before  him." 


40  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

George  drew  a  deep  sigh  of  relief.  If  so  high  an 
authority  as  Doctor  Hickok  advised  his  following 
his  natural  bent,  he  felt  sure  of  being  released  from 
his  compact  and  allowed  to  return  to  the  occupations 
he  loved.  This  assumption  proved  correct,  though 
Mr.  Westinghouse  shook  his  head  sadly  over  the 
collapse  of  his  hope  of  making  George  a  scholar  —  a 
hope  born  of  his  fancied  discovery  that  his  son 
would  never  be  good  for  much  of  anything  else ! 
But,  pitiful  as  the  admission  of  failure  might  be,  he 
granted  it  with  the  best  grace  he  could,  and  told 
George  he  might  go  to  work  at  the  bench.  George 
hesitated. 

"Well,  what's  the  matter ?"  asked  Mr.  Westing- 
house. 

"We  might  as  well  settle  the  wage  now,  Father. " 

"You  can  have  the  same  pay  you  were  getting 
when  you  left  off  —  a  dollar  a  day,  wasn't  it?" 

"Nine  shillings.  That  was  enough  for  the  boy 
I  was  before  I  went  away ;  but  I  am  practically  a 
man  now,  and  if  I  am  worth  anything  I  am  worth  a 
man's  wages.  Give  me  two  dollars  a  day  and  I  stay 
here ;  otherwise  I  go  where  I  can  get  that." 

"  I  had  intended,  George,  to  start  you  again  at  the 
old  figure  and  give  you  an  opportunity  to  show  how 
much  more  you  were  worth  to  the  business.  If  you 
had  done  well,  you  would  have  earned  promotion 
soon.  However,  I  am  willing  to  give  you  a  trial  at 
two  dollars,  on  the  understanding  that  if  you  fall 
short  of  what  is  expected  of  you  we  go  back  to  nine 
shillings." 

Apparently  George  laid  himself  out  to  prove  his 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN     41 

value  to  his  father,  lending  a  hand  wherever  he 
could  be  useful.  Regardless  of  what  he  might  be 
doing,  however,  his  mind  was  busy  with  one  special 
topic,  of  which  the  suggestion  had  grown  out  of  his 
service  in  the  navy.  Before  he  left  home  he  had  built 
a  rotary  engine,  which  was  novel  enough  in  some  of 
its  features  to  secure  a  patent.  His  life  on  ship- 
board, though  short,  had  enabled  him  to  study 
marine  engineering  on  its  practical  side,  and  all  his 
investigations  had  tended  to  confirm  his  original 
belief  that  in  this  field,  if  not  everywhere,  the  rotary 
principle  was  bound  to  supersede  the  reciprocating 
in  the  construction  of  motive  machinery.  Now  and 
then  his  restlessness  would  get  the  better  of  him,  and 
he  would  grasp  at  the  chance  of  going  away  from 
Schenectady  to  transact  an  outside  negotiation  for 
the  firm. 

It  was  while  returning  from  one  such  expedition 
to  Albany  that  he  was  held  up  by  an  accident  of  not 
infrequent  occurrence  in  those  days  of  small  rails  and 
light  rolling  stock.  Two  rear  cars  of  a  train  running 
just  ahead  of  his  had  jumped  the  track,  and  all  traffic 
on  that  section  was  blocked  for  two  hours.  George 
and  a  fellow  traveler  spent  most  of  the  time  watching 
the  wrecking  crew  as  they  grappled  with  one  car  after 
another,  painfully  prying  it  back,  inch  by  inch,  till 
it  could  be  finally  jacked  over  to  its  place  on  the  track. 
As  the  work  neared  its  end,  George,  who  had  been 
unusually  silent  for  several  minutes,  remarked  with 
some  impatience  :  "That  was  a  poorly  handled  job  ! " 

"It  was  tedious, "  admitted  his  friend,  "but  that 
couldn't  be  helped. " 


42  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

"Yes,  it  could.  They  could  have  done  the  whole 
thing  in  fifteen  minutes  by  clamping  a  pair  of  rails 
to  the  track,  and  running  them  off  at  an  angle  like  a 
frog,  so  as  to  come  up  even  against  the  wheels  of  the 
nearest  derailed  car.  Then,  by  hitching  an  engine  to 
the  car,  they  could  have  shunted  it  back  into  place. 
In  fact,  it  wouldn't  be  a  bad  idea  for  a  railroad  com- 
pany to  put  together  a  car-replacer  on  that  principle, 
and  have  it  on  hand  for  use  in  emergencies." 

"Why  don't  you  make  one  and  sell  it  to  the 
railroads?" 

"That's  a  good  idea.     I'll  do  it." 

Before  he  went  to  bed  that  night  George  had 
thought  out  his  plan.  The  next  morning  he  made 
his  drawings,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  prepared  a  model 
he  carried  it  to  his  father.  Mr.  Westinghouse 
examined  it,  but  without  expressing  great  enthusiasm. 

"It  will  cost  money  to  carry  out  that  scheme," 
he  said  as  he  handed  back  the  model.  "  If  it's  worth 
anything,  somebody  will  steal  your  idea  —  " 

"I  shall  patent  it,  of  course,"  George  broke  in. 

"Yes,  yes,  I  know.  But  you  will  have  to  pay  the 
Government's  charges  and  your  lawyer's  fees,  and 
then  will  come  the  expense  of  manufacturing  and 
marketing.  You'll  let  yourself  in  for  a  pretty  penny 
before  you're  through ;  and  where's  the  money 
coming  from  ?" 

"I  thought  probably  you'd  lend  it  to  me." 

"My  son,  if  I  have  learned  one  lesson  in  life,  it  is, 
to  stick  to  things  I  know  something  about.  Now, 
I  do  know  threshing  machines,  and  horse  powers, 
and  all  that,  but  I  don't  know  railroads.  Neither 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    43 

do  you.  If  you  are  bound  to  go  into  this  business, 
I  don't  suppose  I  can  stop  you  ;  but  you  will  have  to 
make  my  share  a  very  small  one." 

George  realized  that  when  his  father  took  such  a 
stand  it  was  time  thrown  away  to  argue  the  question. 
But  his  belief  that  he  had  a  good  idea  had  not  been 
weakened  by  the  discussion,  and,  with  his  father's 
little  contribution  in  his  pocket,  he  seized  his  first 
opportunity  to  call  upon  several  men  in  the  city  who 
were  recognized  as  shrewd  investors  and  laid  his  plan 
before  them.  Some  put  him  aside  with  slight  atten- 
tion, but  two  of  his  business  acquaintances  were 
willing  to  risk  small  sums  in  his  venture.  A  part- 
nership was  thus  formed,  each  of  the  two  capitalists 
contributing  five  thousand  dollars  and  George  his 
father's  modicum  of  money  and  the  right  to  use  his 
patent.  Under  their  contract,  also,  he  was  to  travel 
for  the  concern. 

The  work  done  on  this  device  had  brought  him  into 
contact  with  other  problems  of  railway  construction 
and  operation,  among  them  being  the  making  of  a 
more  durable  frog  than  the  cast-iron  ones  then  in 
use.  This  part  of  a  railroad  track  is  subjected  to 
severe  service,  and  the  wear  upon  it  is  so  great  that 
frequent  replacing  of  the  frogs  was  necessary,  in- 
volving a  heavy  cost  for  material  and  labor  and  seri- 
ous interference  with  traffic  during  replacement. 
The  remedy  Westinghouse  proposed  was  the  em- 
ployment of  cast  steel  instead  of  cast  iron  and  the 
making  of  the  frog  reversible,  so  that  when  one  side 
was  worn  out  it  could  be  turned  over.  By  the  com- 
bined use  of  the  more  durable  metal  and  the  feature 


44  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

of  reversal,  the  life  of  the  frog  was  increased  more 
than  twentyfold,  resulting  in  its  very  extended  em- 
ployment. The  right  to  use  his  patent  on  this  in- 
vention he  assigned  to  the  firm,  as  he  had  his  replacer 
patent. 

In  connection  with  this  development,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  record  the  fact  that  Westinghouse  was 
probably  the  first  man,  in  our  country  at  least,  and 
possibly  in  the  world,  to  produce  steel  castings, 
as  that  term  is  now  applied.  This  is  an  art  that  has 
very  slowly  developed  through  many  difficulties 
until  it  has  attained  a  most  important  status  in  metal- 
lurgical production.  He  knew  nothing  about  the 
subject  except  what  he  had  picked  up  by  scant  oppor- 
tunities for  observation  in  early  attempts  to  have  his 
car-replacers  and  frogs  made  at  existing  steel  plants ; 
but  he  saw  no  reason  why  steel  castings  could  not 
be  produced,  and  so  went  ahead  with  his  plans  to  the 
extent  that  was  necessary  for  his  particular  purpose. 

The  experimental  car-replacers  and  frogs  were 
made  at  Troy,  New  York,  and  at  Pompton,  New 
Jersey.  It  was  after  he  had  invented  the  frog,  but 
before  his  patent  on  it  had  been  issued,  that,  having 
been  to  Pompton  to  ascertain  what  arrangements  he 
could  make  for  its  manufacture,  he  was  starting  for 
home  from  New  York  by  the  Hudson  River  Railroad, 
when  he  met  with  an  adventure  which  gave  a  fresh 
zest  to  his  life.  His  train  was  crowded  with  pas- 
sengers. He  could  have  found  a  seat  in  the  smoking 
car,  but  as  he  did  not  smoke  he  preferred  trying  his 
fortune  elsewhere.  Not  until  he  reached  the  last 
car  did  he  find  a  vacant  place,  and  that  was  beside 


SOLDIER,  SAILOR,  STUDENT,  AND  SWAIN    45 

a  young  woman  whose  appearance  attracted  him 
instantly.  In  a  few  minutes  he  had  engaged  her  in 
conversation  and  drawn  forth  the  information  that 
her  home  was  in  Roxbury,  New  York,  but  that  she 
had  friends  in  Brooklyn,  and  was  now  on  her  way 
to  visit  relatives  in  Kingston.  Shortly  before  she 
reached  her  destination,  he  expressed  the  hope  that 
she  would  allow  him  to  continue  their  acquaintance. 
The  modest  hesitancy  with  which  she  received  the 
suggestion  reminded  him  that  she  knew  nothing 
about  him  except  what  he  had  incidentally  let  fall  in 
the  course  of  their  chat ;  and,  with  characteristic 
resourcefulness,  he  tore  a  page  from  his  notebook 
and  scribbled  on  it  the  addresses  of  three  or  four 
substantial  persons  who  could  answer  any  questions 
concerning  his  antecedents  and  character.  She  ap- 
peared to  be  reassured  by  his  manner,  for  she  con- 
sented to  his  calling  upon  her,  and  when  he  re- 
mounted the  car  platform  after  helping  her  off  he 
was  as  jubilant  as  if  he  had  won  a  great  triumph. 
The  first  thing  he  did  on  reaching  Schenectady  was 
to  seek  the  pastor  of  the  church  he  attended,  and  ask 
him  to  write  a  letter  to  the  young  lady,  stating  who 
he  was,  and  the  standing  of  the  Westinghouses  in  the 
community. 

His  family  was  struck  with  his  light-heartedness 
when  he  came  to  the  tea  table  that  evening,  and  one 
of  his  sisters  rallied  him  a  little  on  it. 

11  You  look  as  if  you  had  won  a  prize  in  a  lottery," 
she  said. 

"I  am  not  sure  that  I  have  won  it  yet,"  he  re- 
sponded, "but  I  think  I  have  a  good  chance." 


46  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Westinghouse  exchanged  quick 
glances.  Both  disapproved  strongly  of  anything  in 
the  nature  of  gambling,  and  were  somewhat  startled 
at  his  confession.  He  let  the  whole  party  puzzle 
over  his  case  for  a  few  minutes  before  he  explained  : 

"I've  met  the  woman  I  am  going  to  marry." 

Mr.  Westinghouse  regarded  him  with  a  quizzical 
air. 

'The  woman  you  are  going  to  marry,  eh?"  he 
commented,  with  mock  seriousness.  "And  are  you 
proposing  to  support  her,  or  is  she  to  support  you  ?" 

"I've  no  fear  that  I  can't  take  care  of  a  wife,"  was 
George's  self-sufficient  answer. 

''You  haven't  built  your  house  yet,  I  suppose?" 

"No,  we  may  come  here  for  a  while  and  build  the 
house  later." 

"Ah!" 

That  was  all  anybody  said  at  the  time,  but  that 
George  was  in  earnest  was  evident  when,  after  two 
visits  to  Kingston  and  three  to  Roxbury,  he  an- 
nounced to  his  mother  that  he  was  the  accepted  lover 
of  Marguerite  Erskine  Walker ;  that  they  had  de- 
cided to  be  married  in  Brooklyn  on  the  eighth  of  the 
following  August,  and  that  he  would  like  to  bring 
his  wife  home  till  they  could  find  a  house  suited  to 
their  needs  and  purse. 


GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE  AND  MRS.  WESTINGHOUSE 
DURING  THEIR  EARLIER  DAYS  OF  WEDDED  LIFE 


CHAPTER   IV 
OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE  DOOR 

To  the  reader  whose  traveling  days  have  fallen 
within  the  last  quarter-century,  the  air  brake  in  use 
on  the  modern  railroad  is  so  much  a  matter  of  course 
that  it  might  have  existed  from  the  beginning  of 
time.  How  recent  an  invention  it  is,  and  what  a 
revolution  it  has  accomplished,  can  be  appreciated 
only  by  those  of  us  who  can  remember  the  conditions 
that  prevailed  before  its  coming. 

Hand-braking  was  both  difficult  and  dangerous. 
A  brakeman  stood  between  every  two  cars  on  a  pas- 
senger train,  and,  at  a  point  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  next  stopping  place,  he  would  begin  to  turn  a 
horizontal  handwheel  on  one  platform  so  as  to 
tighten  slowly  a  chain  that  set  the  brakes  on  a  single 
pair  of  wheels.  When  he  had  wound  the  chain  taut 
he  would  step  across  to  the  opposite  platform  and 
repeat  the  operation  on  the  handwheel  there.  No 
matter  how  skilled  all  the  brakemen  on  a  train  might 
be,  their  work  was  always  uneven,  for  no  two  cars 
would  respond  to  the  brake  with  the  same  promptness, 
and  the  slower  ones  would  bump  into  the  quicker, 
adding  to  the  hazards  of  the  task.  A  freight  train 
was  harder  to  care  for  than  a  passenger  train,  because 


48  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  brakemen  had  to  ride  on  top  of  the  cars  in  all 
weathers,  with  the  liability  of  being  knocked  off  by 
a  low  bridge,  frozen  in  midwinter,  or,  on  windy  or 
slippery  nights,  missing  their  footing  and  falling 
between  the  cars. 

These  possibilities  and  others  were  brought  vividly 
before  the  mind  of  young  Westinghouse  one  day 
when  he  was  on  his  way  from  Schenectady  to  Troy 
to  meet  an  engagement  at  the  Bessemer  Steel  Works. 
His  train  coming  to  a  sudden  standstill  midway  be- 
tween stations,  he  got  off,  with  several  fellow  pas- 
sengers, to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  delay.  A 
short  distance  ahead  the  distorted  hulks  of  two  loco- 
motives, and  a  stretch  of  track  strewn  with  over- 
turned or  broken  cars  and  the  remains  of  what  had 
been  a  solid  cargo  of  merchandise,  told  their  story : 
two  heavily  loaded  freight  trains  had  come  together 
with  a  crash.  The  day  was  clear,  the  roadbed  at 
that  point  was  level,  the  track  was  well  railed  and 
smooth  and  straight ;  it  seemed  as  if  a  collision  could 
hardly  have  occurred  except  through  gross  careless- 
ness. Westinghouse  suggested  as  much  to  one  of 
the  company's  employees  who  was  standing  near, 
supervising  the  clearing  of  the  track. 

"No/*  answered  the  man,  "the  engineers  saw  each 
other,  and  both  tried  their  best  to  stop,  but  they 
couldn't." 

"Why  not?     Wouldn't  the  brakes  work?" 

"Oh,  yes,  but  there  wasn't  time.  You  can't  stop 
a  train  in  a  moment." 

This  remark  rang  in  the  young  man's  ears  the  rest 
of  the  day.  Fortunately,  no  lives  had  been  lost  in 


OPPORTUNITY   KNOCKS  AT  THE   DOOR    49 

the  wreck,  but  his  train  was  delayed  so  long  that  he 
missed  his  appointment,  and  the  annoyance  gave 
pungency  to  questions  which  kept  rising  in  his  mind  : 
They  hadn't  time?  Why  not?  Suppose  one  of 
those  trains  had  been  full  of  passengers  instead  of 
freight  ?  Suppose  it  had  been  the  train  he  was  riding 
on  ?  Here  was  a  subject  even  better  worth  studying 
than  the  replacement  of  derailed  cars,  which  had 
commanded  so  much  of  his  attention  as  the  result 
of  an  earlier  accident. 

Obviously,  the  key  to  the  collision  lay  in  the  lapse 
of  time  between  the  "down  brakes"  whistle  and  the 
clamping  of  the  brake  shoes  on  the  wheels.  The 
engineers  doubtless  acted  quickly  enough  when  they 
apprehended  the  danger  ;  but,  if,  instead  of  sounding 
a  signal  to  several  other  men,  these  two  had  been 
able  to  apply  the  brakes  instantly  themselves,  the 
possibilities  of  damage  would  at  least  have  been  re- 
duced to  a  minimum.  How  could  this  be  made 
practicable  ? 

The  first  idea  that  occurred  to  him  was  to  connect 
the  brakes  on  the  several  cars  with  the  coupling 
mechanism  in  such  a  way  that  when  the  steam  was 
shut  off  and  the  brakes  were  set  on  the  locomotive 
by  the  engineer,  the  consequent  closing-up  of  the 
cars  would  automatically  set  their  brakes  also.  A 
few  experiments,  however,  with  a  miniature  ap- 
paratus rigged  up  in  his  father's  shop,  convinced  him 
that  the  scheme  would  be  quite  unworkable  if  the 
ounces  of  his  little  model  were  translated  into  the 
tons  of  a  real  train.  Walking  one  Sunday  afternoon 
past  a  siding  on  which  stood  a  few  idle  freight  cars, 


50  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

another  thought  came  to  him :  Why  would  it  not  be 
perfectly  feasible  to  extend  underneath  the  whole 
train  a  long  brake  chain,  which  could  be  suddenly 
drawn  taut  by  some  device  close  to  the  hand  of  the 
engineer,  and  thus  bring  all  the  brakes  into  action? 
While  he  was  still  pondering  this  question,  business 
called  him  to  Chicago.  Here  he  was  talking  one  day 
with  Superintendent  Towne  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington and  Quincy  Railroad,  when  the  conversation 
turned  upon  increasing  the  safety  of  trains  by  better 
braking  facilities. 

"Come  in  tomorrow  afternoon,"  he  said  to  West- 
inghouse,  as  they  parted,  "and  we'll  go  down  to  the 
yard  where  they  make  up  our  prize  train,  the  Aurora 
Accommodation.  We've  put  a  brake  on  that  which 
seems  to  do  all  that  can  be  done  in  the  brake  line. 
I'll  have  the  inventor  over  to  meet  you,  and  we'll 
inspect  the  train  together.  You'll  find  him  an  in- 
teresting fellow,  and  he'll  talk  brake  with  you  from 
morning  till  night  if  you'll  let  him." 

Westinghouse  gladly  accepted  the  invitation.  He 
found  the  inventor  sociability  itself,  but  when  he  let 
drop  a  remark  that  he,  too,  was  thinking  over  a 
braking  contrivance,  it  was  not  very  hospitably 
received. 

"You  are  throwing  away  your  time,  young  man," 
the  inventor  presently  asserted,  with  an  air  of  finality. 
"I  went  all  over  the  ground  before  completing  my 
invention,  and  my  patents  are  broad  enough  to  cover 
everything." 

But  Westinghouse  was  not  to  be  so  easily  fright- 
ened off.  The  brake,  as  he  noted  on  examination, 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE  DOOR    51 

consisted  of  a  windlass  on  the  locomotive,  which 
could  be  revolved  by  pressing  a  grooved  wheel  against 
the  flange  of  the  driving  wheel,  so  as  to  wind  up  a 
chain  that  ran  underneath  the  entire  train,  just  as 
he  had  tentatively  figured.  That  the  two  men  should 
have  hit  upon  the  same  fundamental  feature  was 
not  strange,  if  we  reflect  that  up  to  that  hour  no  road 
in  the  United  States  used  a  brake  which  was  not 
moved  by  a  chain. 

The  chain  of  the  apparatus  was  carried  along  its 
course  by  running  over  a  series  of  rollers  connected 
with  the  brake  levers  of  every  car  in  such  a  manner 
that,  as  soon  as  the  chain  was  tightened,  the  brakes 
came  instantly  against  the  wheels.  To  Westinghouse 
the  windlass  arrangement  seemed  clumsy,  incapable 
of  accurate  control,  and  subject  to  rapid  deteriora- 
tion under  wear.  For  this,  he  believed  a  steam 
cylinder  might  be  substituted,  placed  beneath  and 
supplied  with  steam  from  the  engine,  its  piston  being 
so  connected  as  to  draw  the  chain  taut  when  desired. 
Then  arose  a  troublesome  question.  The  Burlington 
train  which  was  undergoing  demonstration  consisted 
of  only  four  or  five  cars,  whereas  what  he  was  aiming 
to  devise  was  a  cab-controlled  brake  system  for  a 
train  made  up  of  two  or  three  times  as  many  cars 
and  requiring  a  chain  of  correspondingly  greater 
length ;  and  where  was  the  locomotive  which  could 
carry  a  cylinder  capable  of  taking  up  so  much  slack  ? 

To  meet  this  difficulty,  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
supplying  all  the  cars  with  separate  cylinders,  fed 
from  the  engine  by  connections  between  the  cars. 
But  here  came  in  the  factor  of  temperature ;  for  even 


52  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

in  warm  weather  the  steam  would  be  condensed  be- 
fore it  had  reached  the  hindmost  car,  while  in  winter 
the  condensed  steam  would  freeze.  Plainly,  he 
would  have  to  seek  some  other  agency  than  steam 
for  transmitting  power  from  the  cab. 

"Opportunity,"  says  the  familiar  maxim,  "knocks 
once  at  every  man's  door."  The  guise  in  which  it 
knocked  at  George  Westinghouse's  door  is  worthy 
of  a  place  among  the  romances  of  invention. 

It  was  the  noon  hour  in  the  office  of  the  Westing- 
house  Works  on  the  canal  bank.  The  heads  of  the 
concern  had  gone  home  for  dinner,  and  the  under- 
lings who  had  brought  their  lunches  with  them  were 
gathered  in  groups,  talking.  Apart  from  the  rest 
sat  George  Westinghouse  at  a  table,  but  looking  out 
of  the  window  as  he  turned  over  and  over  in  his  mind 
the  most  puzzling  features  of  his  brake  problem.  In 
the  midst  of  his  meditations  he  became  vaguely  con- 
scious of  the  presence  of  some  one  close  to  his  elbow. 
Whoever  it  was  had  apparently  been  standing  there 
some  time.  Looking  up  suddenly,  his  eyes  encoun- 
tered those  of  a  young  woman  whom  he  now  recalled 
having  noticed  when  she  entered  the  office,  with  a 
somewhat  older  companion,  just  after  the  noon 
whistle  blew.  In  her  hand  she  carried  a  brown- 
covered  pamphlet  that  looked  like  a  magazine.  She 
held  this  toward  him  at  once. 

"  I  am  trying  to  raise  a  little  money,"  she  explained, 
"by  taking  subscriptions  for  the  Living  Age.  May 
I  show  it  to  you?" 

"No,  I  never  read  magazines,"  he  answered, 
waving  her  away. 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE  DOOR    53 

"I  thought,  maybe —  "  she  ventured  timidly. 

"Try  some  of  those  fellows  over  there,"  he  in- 
terrupted, motioning  toward  a  table  around  which 
four  or  five  young  men  were  gathered  in  conversation. 

"I  have  tried  them,"  pleaded  the  girl,  "but  they 
all  put  me  off  in  the  same  way.  It  is  discouraging." 
And  in  response  to  a  beckoning  touch  from  her  com- 
panion she  started  slowly  toward  the  door.  Some- 
thing in  her  gentle  appearance  and  manner  moved 
him  to  repent  a  little  of  his  brusqueness,  and  he 
reached  out  for  the  magazine  she  had  proffered  him. 
Opening  it  at  random,  and  passing  over  a  few  pages 
of  fiction  and  miscellaneous  essays,  his  eye  was  caught 
by  an  article  entitled  "In  the  Mont  Cenis  Tunnel." 
It  looked  interesting. 

"What  are  you  trying  to  earn  money  for?"  he 
inquired. 

"I  am  studying  to  be  a  teacher,"  she  said,  "and  I 
haven't  the  means  to  finish  my  course.  I  didn't 
know  what  else  to  do,  so  I  took  an  agency  for  the 
magazine  in  the  hope  - 

"How  far  will  this  go  toward  a  subscription?" 
he  interrupted  again.  He  had  fished  a  bank  note 
from  his  pocket. 

"Two  dollars?     That  will  pay  for  three  months." 

With  a  smile,  he  put  down  his  signature  and  ad- 
dress in  her  order-book.  She  hesitated,  and  held  out 
her  hand. 

"My  magazine,  please.  It's  my  only  sample 
copy." 

"Well,  begin  my  subscription  with  that  number. 
There's  something  in  it  I  want  to  read." 


54  GEORGE  WESTING  HOUSE 

She  promised  and  withdrew.  He  never  saw  her 
again,  to  his  knowledge ;  but  their  brief  interview 
was  to  have  momentous  consequences. 

The  magazine  came  in  due  time ;  in  the  interval, 
other  matters  had  become  pressing,  and  it  lay  un- 
opened for  a  few  days  among  his  papers  at  home. 
Then,  one  evening,  having  an  hour  to  spare,  he  picked 
it  up  and  turned  to  the  article  which  had  first  at- 
tracted his  attention.  The  author,  a  recent  visitor 
to  the  Mont  Cenis  tunnel,  then  in  course  of  con- 
struction, described  in  picturesque  phrases  the  moun- 
tain chain,  the  surrounding  country,  the  approaches. 
All  very  well,  of  course,  but  what  Westinghouse 
wanted  came  further  on.  The  engineers  in  charge, 
he  read,  had  first  considered  following  the  usual  prac- 
tice of  sinking  vertical  shafts  or  wells  from  the  upper 
surface  at  convenient  distances  apart,  and  cutting 
through  horizontally  from  one  of  these  to  another; 
but  all  the  shafts  would  have  been  of  enormous  depth, 
and  one  of  them,  it  was  estimated,  would  have  re- 
quired nearly  forty  years  to  bore,  so  that  plan  had 
to  be  abandoned,  and  the  tunnel  opened  from  its 
opposite  ends,  the  respective  gangs  working  their 
way  toward  each  other.  If  they  did  this  by  hand, 
fifty  or  sixty  years  must  pass  before  they  could  meet 
in  the  heart  of  the  mountain.  Steam  machinery 
might  be  used  for  boring;  but  steam  requires  fire, 
and  fire  feeds  on  air,  and  when  a  gang  of  laborers 
had  penetrated  three  miles  into  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  they  would  need  all  the  air  they  could  get  for 
their  own  lungs. 

An  English  engineer  had  invented  an  apparatus 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE  DOOR    55 

which  by  steam  power  would  drive  a  drill  like  a 
battering-ram  against  the  face  of  the  rock  and  make 
holes  for  blasting.  About  the  same  time  three  Italian 
engineers,  who  had  been  experimenting  with  com- 
pressed air  as  a  motor  for  driving  a  railway  train  up 
a  steep  incline  in  the  Apennines,  conceived  the  idea 
that  the  combination  of  the  air  motor  with  the 
drilling  machine  would  solve  the  tunnel-boring  prob- 
lem. The  power  would  cost  nothing,  and,  instead 
of  consuming  air,  would  supply  it  to  the  workmen. 
"The  result,"  the  article  continued,  "has  been  a 
perforating  machine,  moved  by  common  air  com- 
pressed to  one  sixth  its  natural  bulk,  and  conse- 
quently, when  set  free,  exercising  an  expansive  force 
equal  to  six  atmospheres." 

With  a  triumphant  ejaculation,  Westinghouse 
sprang  from  his  chair,  and  threw  the  open  magazine 
down  on  the  table.  At  last  he  had  the  answer  to 
his  riddle !  If  compressed  air  could  be  conveyed 
through  three  thousand  feet  of  pipe  and  yet  retain 
enough  efficiency  to  drive  a  drill  through  the  solid 
stone  heart  of  a  mountain  chain,  it  could  certainly 
be  carried  the  length  of  a  railroad  train  and  still  exert 
the  force  required  to  set  the  brakes  on  the  hindmost 
car.  The  discovery  was  his  last  waking  thought 
that  night,  and  the  first  thing  to  welcome  his  return- 
ing consciousness  the  next  morning ;  and  at  once  he 
began  making  working  drawings  of  the  machinery 
necessary  for  his  purpose. 

His  brief  encounter  with  the  Chicago  inventor  had 
taught  our  young  friend  prudence,  and  he  scrupu- 
lously kept  his  own  counsel  on  the  new  turn  he  was 


56  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

taking.  He  still  went  on  his  travels  from  time  to 
time  to  sell  his  earlier  inventions  ;  but  it  had  become 
plain  that  for  the  present  there  was  little  more  money 
to  be  made  from  his  reversible  frog.  This  was  not 
because  the  frog  was  not  as  useful  as  ever,  but,  since 
it  was  made  of  cast  steel,  it  was  so  durable  that  the 
roads  rarely  renewed  their  supply.  His  partners 
became  restless  under  the  prospect  of  reduced 
income,  and,  after  proposing  one  and  another  im- 
practicable scheme  for  cutting  down  expenses,  they 
summoned  him  to  a  confidential  council  one  day, 
announcing  that  they  had  a  matter  of  grave  im- 
portance to  call  up. 

It  was  a  dismal  afternoon  when  the  three  men 
met  in  the  little  wooden  house  which  they  had 
adopted  as  headquarters  for  their  business.  The 
sky,  shrouded  in  dark,  threatening  clouds,  and  a  cold 
rain,  swept  by  heavy  gusts  of  wind  against  the  grimy 
window  panes  and  keeping  up  a  constant  fusillade 
on  the  roof,  united  to  make  a  theatrical  setting  for 
the  scene  which  followed.  Westinghouse  was 
scarcely  more  than  a  boy.  His  partners  were  men 
of  mature  years,  recognized  in  the  community  as 
persons  of  substance.  After  a  few  minutes'  general 
discussion  of  the  way  sales  had  declined  and  the 
reasons  therefor,  one  of  the  older  men  broached  the 
topic  which  had  inspired  their  desire  for  a  meeting. 
'The  business,"  said  he,  "has  become  too  small 
for  three  partners.  As  two  of  us  have  furnished  all 
the  capital,  while  the  third  has  put  in  merely  his 
time,  it  seems  the  logical  thing  to  split  right  on  that 
line.  In  other  words,  you"  —  addressing  Westing- 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE  DOOR    57 

house  —  "should  either  buy  us  out,  or  else  retire 
and  turn  over  the  whole  thing  to  us." 

The  young  inventor's  indignation  was  stirred  by 
this  summary  treatment. 

"You  know  very  well,"  he  answered,  "that  I  am 
in  no  position  to  buy  you  out,  so  what's  the  use  of 
talking  about  that?" 

"Well,"  the  other  reminded  him,  "we  left  open 
an  alternative." 

"If  I  retire,  what  do  you  propose  to  pay  me  for 
my  patents?" 

"Nothing.  You  have  had  the  use  of  our  money 
from  the  start,  in  return  for  your  services  as  salesman. 
If  necessary,  we  can  hire  an  outside  traveling  man 
to  take  your  place,  and  lay  him  off  when  trade  is  dull." 

By  this  time  George  was  worked  up  to  a  fine  fit 
of  temper. 

"So  you  expect  me  to  make  you  a  present  of  my 
patent  rights?"  he  cried.  "Well,  you  have  missed 
your  guess,  for  I  don't  intend  to.  We'll  break  up 
this  business  here  and  now,  if  you  say  so ;  but  from 
the  moment  you  and  I  part  company,  you  make  no 
further  use  of  my  patents  without  paying  me  as  you 
would  a  stranger!" 

"We'll  see  !"  sneered  the  spokesman  for  the  other 
side. 

"We  will !"  retorted  George,  hotly,  as  he  buttoned 
his  overcoat  about  him  and  strode  out  into  the  storm. 

The  two  older  men  had  been  prepared  for  a  rather 
trying  interview  with  their  youthful  partner,  but  had 
not  counted  on  his  ending  it  in  this  defiant  style. 
With  a  bride  to  support  and  no  visible  means  with 


58  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

which  to  do  it,  they  had  looked  to  see  him  surrender 
at  discretion.  Probably  they  would  have  been  still 
more  astonished  had  they  heard  him,  at  his  father's 
table  that  evening,  announce  his  intention  of  going 
to  Pittsburgh. 

"How  long  shall  you  be  away  ? "  asked  his  mother. 

"I  don't  know -- perhaps  I'll  stay  there,  if  I  like 
it,"  said  George. 

This  note  of  confidence  delighted  his  young  wife, 
who  declared  that  nothing  would  please  her  better 
than  to  live  in  Pittsburgh,  which  she  had  heard  was 
a  growing  city  and  interesting.  Then  George  ex- 
plained that,  a  few  weeks  ago,  he  had  learned  of  a 
steel-making  plant  in  Pittsburgh  which,  with  its 
superior  facilities,  could  unquestionably  make  his 
replacement  apparatus  much  cheaper  than  it  could 
be  made  in  mills  nearer  home,  and  he  had  been  in 
correspondence  with  the  concern  on  the  subject, 
with  the  intention  of  laying  the  matter  before  his 
partners  as  soon  as  there  were  definite  data  to  report. 
Now  he  was  absolved  from  any  obligation  to  them 
and  could  go  ahead  on  his  sole  responsibility. 

He  made  his  journey  according  to  program,  with 
the  purpose  of  arranging  for  the  firm  of  Anderson 
and  Cook  to  manufacture  the  replacer  at  their  own 
cost  and  employ  him  as  a  traveling  salesman.  Never 
having  been  in  Pittsburgh  before,  he  left  his  luggage 
at  the  station  on  his  arrival,  and  started  out  to  find 
his  way  to  the  office  of  the  firm,  which,  his  notebook 
told  him,  was  at  the  corner  of  Second  Avenue  and 
Try  Street.  He  was  slowly  walking  away  from  the 
station,  hoping  to  discover  some  signs  to  guide  him, 


OPPORTUNITY   KNOCKS  AT  THE   DOOR    59 

when  he  saw  coming  toward  him  a  young  man  of 
about  his  own  age,  tall,  good-looking,  and  well  dressed. 
The  stranger  espied  him  at  the  same  moment,  and 
the  attraction  seemed  to  be  mutual,  for  they  halted, 
facing  each  other.  Westinghouse  explained  where 
he  wished  to  go,  and  inquired  the  way.  The  young 
man  not  only  pointed  it  out,  but  volunteered  to  go 
along  for  a  short  distance.  In  a  few  minutes  they  had 
exchanged  names,  and  were  chatting  like  old  friends. 

The  stranger,  it  appeared,  was  Ralph  Baggaley, 
a  member  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  families  in 
Pittsburgh,  and  the  general  manager  of  a  local 
foundry.  He  had  received  a  part  of  his  education 
in  Germany,  and  took  a  keen  interest  in  technical 
matters.  Thus  guided,  Westinghouse  presently 
found  himself  at  the  office  of  Anderson  and  Cook, 
and  closeted  with  the  senior  partner,  who  soon  ar- 
ranged with  him  to  start  on  the  road  at  once  and 
solicit  orders  from  the  railroad  companies. 

Of  this  opportunity  Westinghouse  made  the  most. 
He  filed  immediately  in  the  Patent  Office  at  Washing- 
ton a  caveat  on  his  air  brake ;  and  from  that  day 
forward  every  railroad  officer  with  whom  he  discussed 
the  replacer  and  frog  was  required  later  to  listen  to 
an  exposition  of  the  brake.  It  was  uphill  work. 
One  would  feign  attention,  perhaps,  only  to  show  by 
his  questions  at  the  end  of  the  monologue  that  he 
had  not  grasped  more  than  half  that  his  caller  had 
been  saying.  Another  would  excuse  himself  for  lack 
of  time  before  the  talk  had  proceeded  far.  Among 
those  approached  was  "Commodore"  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt,  who  proved  a  good-enough  listener,  but 


6o  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

then,  in  the  direct  manner  for  which  he  was  famous, 
dismissed  the  whole  project  as  too  imaginative  for 
serious  consideration. 

From  time  to  time,  Westinghouse  would  return 
to  Pittsburgh  to  report  progress  with  his  sales.  On 
one  of  these  visits  he  encountered  Baggaley  again, 
and,  after  an  evening's  exchange  of  experiences  and 
opinions,  confided  to  him  the  air  brake  scheme. 
Baggaley  was  polite,  but  by  no  means  enthusiastic ; 
it  was  plain  that,  in  spite  of  his  friendship  for  the  in- 
ventor, he  regarded  the  invention  as  ingenious  but 
visionary.  As  Westinghouse  warmed  to  his  theme, 
however,  and  grew  not  only  eloquent,  but  convincing 
in  his  reasoning,  Baggaley  became  infected  with  his 
spirit  and  began  to  conjure  up  in  his  own  mind  the 
great  possibilities  of  the  device.  As  he  was  leaving 
he  said:  "Westinghouse,  we  must  lose  no  time  in 
putting  this  thing  before  some  of  the  big  men  in  the 
railroad  world." 

The  other's  face  fell. 

"I  could  launch  it  without  much  difficulty,"  said 
he,  "if  I  had  a  little  capital.  I  have  seen  several 
railroad  men  already.  They  have  no  way  of  answer- 
ing my  arguments  about  the  value  of  the  invention 
if  it  will  work,  but  I  haven't  found  one  yet  who  was 
willing  to  stand  the  expense  of  giving  it  a  trial." 

"Then  a  man  who  has  money  to  risk  would  be  of 
more  use  to  you  just  now  than  one  who  knows 
railroading?" 

"That's  it." 

"Perhaps  your  father  would  help  you  now,  if  you 
put  the  case  before  him  in  that  way." 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  AT  THE   DOOR      61 

Once  more  George  approached  his  father  in  the 
hope  of  inducing  him  to  buy  a  fractional  interest  in 
the  patent ;  but,  in  the  correspondence  which  fol- 
lowed, Mr.  Westinghouse  manifested  more  strongly 
than  ever  his  distaste  for  what  he  still  regarded  as  a 
pure  speculation. 


CHAPTER  V 
DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY 

IN  spite  of  his  air  of  confidence,  Westinghouse  had 
begun  to  wonder,  after  his  series  of  rebuffs,  whether 
there  might  not  be  some  technical  feature  of  his  in- 
vention which  made  men  of  broader  training  and 
experience  than  his  suspicious  of  it.  None  of  them 
had  suggested  such  a  thing,  though  he  had  given 
them  plenty  of  openings ;  possibly,  he  reflected, 
they  were  too  considerate  of  his  feelings  to  tell  him 
the  truth  to  his  face.  He  resolved  therefore  to  ob- 
tain one  verdict  on  which  he  could  depend  as  un- 
biased even  by  courtesy.  Baggaley  had  announced 
an  intention  to  back  the  venture  with  a  few  thousand 
dollars  he  was  able  to  command,  so  that  they  could 
be  prepared  to  take  instant  advantage  of  any  pro- 
posal that  might  suddenly  come  to  them  for  an  ex- 
periment ;  but  Westinghouse  was  reluctant  to  let 
his  friend  assume  such  a  risk  till  both  felt  sure  that 
they  were  on  solid  ground. 

"We  are  wasting  time  with  so  much  hesitation," 
declared  Baggaley  one  day.  "Let  me  put  all  the 
drawings,  directions,  and  claims  into  the  hands  of  a 
man  I  know,  the  most  highly  skilled  mechanical 
expert  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  and  have  him  pass 


DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY        63 

on  them.  It  will  cost  something,  for  he  gets  good 
fees  for  his  opinions,  but  I  think  it  will  pay  in  the 
end." 

Westinghouse  consenting,  this  was  done.  The 
expert  gave  the  subject  his  careful  scrutiny,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  fortnight  handed  back  a  written 
opinion,  which  his  young  client  read  with  feverish 
eagerness.  It  was  a  sweeping  condemnation  of  the 
whole  scheme  as  not  only  unsound  but  nonsensical. 
Baggaley  hurried  with  the  paper  to  Westinghouse, 
who  went  over  it  twice  before  handing  it  back.  The 
rising  color  in  his  face  showed  that  he  was  angry, 
but  he  gave  no  immediate  vent  to  his  feelings. 

"How  much  did  your  expert  charge  you  for  that 
death  sentence?"  he  asked,  after  a  little. 

"One  hundred  dollars." 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

"Watch  me  and  see."  And  Baggaley,  setting  his 
teeth  hard,  tore  the  manuscript  into  ribbons  and 
threw  it  into  the  grate.  As  it  did  not  catch  at  once, 
he  struck  a  match  and  lighted  the  little  pile,  standing 
over  it  till  the  last  fragment  of  paper  had  been  turned 
into  ashes,  and  the  smoke  from  it  had  disappeared 
up  the  chimney. 

"That's  a  nice  way  to  treat  an  expert's  report," 
remarked  Westinghouse  with  grim  humor,  as  he 
followed  the  other's  motions  with  his  eyes.  "Ap- 
parently you  don't  consider  the  fellow's  opinion 
worth  so  much  now  as  you  did  before  you  got  it?" 

"  It  was  worth  the  hundred  dollars  I  paid  for  it  — 
every  cent :  it  has  taught  me  a  lesson  that  I  could 
not  have  bought  otherwise  for  ten  times  the  money. 


64  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Hereafter  I  back  my  own  judgment  and  let  outsiders 
go.  George,  I'll  put  up  your  common  sense  against 
the  special  education  of  any  expert  in  Christendom ! 
Now  let's  get  to  work,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  show 
that  somebody  is  sure  to  give  us  soon." 

Both  took  fresh  heart  and  plunged  in  with  a  will. 
Although  it  was  an  expensive  undertaking,  Westing- 
house,  with  Baggaley's  support,  prepared  the  ap- 
paratus for  an  experiment  as  elaborately  as  if  they 
had  a  train  of  cars  already  at  the  door,  waiting  to  be 
equipped.  But  even  the  railroad  managers  to  whom 
the  subject  was  presented  in  its  new  light  were  dis- 
posed to  fight  shy  of  it.  Their  rolling-stock  was 
already  supplied  with  brakes,  they  argued,  and,  while 
it  was  always  possible  that  something  better  than 
they  had  might  come  along,  they  felt  that,  if  they 
had  procured  the  best  outfit  at  that  time  in  general 
use,  they  had  done  their  duty  to  the  public,  and 
spent  as  much  of  their  stockholders'  money  as  they 
had  a  right  to.  Now  and  then  one  would  concede 
a  half-promise  that  he  would  lay  the  question  before 
his  directors  at  their  next  meeting ;  but  either  he 
failed  to  do  so,  or  the  directors  declined  to  look  into 
it,  and  the  weeks  slipped  by  till  the  autumn  of  1868 
was  at  hand.  In  the  meantime  Westinghouse  had 
brought  his  wife  from  Schenectady,  and  they  had 
established  themselves  in  Pittsburgh  in  a  very  modest 
way. 

Then  came  upon  the  scene  Robert  Pitcairn,  local 
superintendent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  who 
promptly  took  a  strong  fancy  to  Westinghouse. 
After  lending  a  sympathetic  ear  to  the  usual  ex- 


DOUBT  CHANGED  TO   CERTAINTY        65 

planation  of  the  brake  and  prophecies  of  its  future 
importance,  "If  I  can  get  my  people  interested," 
said  he,  "I  believe  there  is  enough  in  the  invention 
to  be  worth  a  fair  trial." 

The  flagging  hopes  of  the  young  men  sprang  up 
with  a  bound.  A  few  days  later,  at  Mr.  Pitcairn's 
instigation,  Superintendent  Williams  came  on  from 
Altoona  accompanied  by  Andrew  J.  Cassatt,  then 
assistant  superintendent  of  motive  power  for  the 
company  and  already  recognized  as  one  of  its  coming 
notables.  The  two  looked  the  apparatus  over  with 
great  particularity,  and  interrogated  its  sponsors 
with  an  intelligence  no  one  else  except  Mr.  Pitcairn 
had  thus  far  displayed.  This  carried  the  matter  a 
stage  further  than  anything  that  had  preceded  it ; 
they  were  frank  enough  to  say  that  they  regarded 
the  invention  as  having  more  than  ordinary  merit, 
but  —  and  here  followed  the  old,  familiar  reaction  - 
they  were  not  prepared  to  recommend  that  their 
company  shoulder  the  entire  expense  of  a  practical 
demonstration.  Could  not  the  young  men  arrange 
to  bear  this,  provided  the  company  would  furnish  the 
track  and  the  train,  the  engineer  and  the  crew,  free 
of  charge? 

No,  the  young  men  did  not  see  their  way  clear  to 
do  so.  They  were  sorry,  but,  in  constructing  a  com- 
plete equipment  for  a  locomotive  and  one  car,  they 
had  already  gone  to  as  heavy  expense  as  they  felt 
justified  in  incurring.  Could  not  the  company  meet 
them  on  a  little  more  advantageous  ground?  Mr. 
Cassatt  and  his  companion  expressed  their  serious 
doubts.  If  they  could  individually  do  just  what 


66  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

they  wished  to  without  consulting  any  one  else,  they 
would  be  entirely  willing  to  offer  more  liberal  terms 
for  the  sake  of  an  experiment.  The  most  they  could 
do  was  to  promise  that  they  would  think  everything 
over  conscientiously  and  make  a  perfectly  well- 
balanced  report,  but  they  would  hold  out  no  encour- 
agement to  look  for  a  more  favorable  decision  from 
headquarters. 

In  the  midst  of  the  brief  depression  which  followed 
this  rapid  rise  and  fall  of  his  anticipations,  Westing- 
house  received  one  day  an  unheralded  visit  from 
Superintendent  W.  W.  Card  of  the  Steubenville 
division  of  the  Panhandle  Railroad. 

"I  understand,"  said  he,  "that  you  have  invented 
a  remarkable  brake  ?  " 

Westinghouse,  hardly  able  to  trust  his  ears,  as- 
sured Mr.  Card  that  this  was  the  fact,  and  proceeded 
to  expatiate  on  the  special  excellences  of  his  invention. 
Instead  of  the  polite  repression  he  had  learned  to 
expect  from  railroad  officers  when  he  opened  his 
floodgates  of  panegyric,  he  met  with  incitements  to 
go  on  from  one  point  to  another.  And  not  only  that, 
but  his  extraordinary  visitor,  after  listening  atten- 
tively to  all  he  had  to  say,  examined  the  sample 
apparatus,  part  by  part,  with  an  appraising  eye, 
accompanying  the  inspection  with  comments  which 
showed  that  not  a  word  of  the  explanation  had  been 
lost  upon  him. 

"If  this  will  do  all  it  appears  capable  of,"  was  his 
summing-up,  as  he  surveyed  the  mechanism  once 
more  in  perspective,  "you  have  opened  a  gold  mine, 
Mr.  Westinghouse.  The  railroads  have  been  waiting 


DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY    67 

a  long  time  for  a  really  good  brake.  What  we  have 
now  will  answer  only  so  long  as  we  can  find  nothing 
better  in  the  market.  When  the  right  one  comes 
along,  it  will  find  the  roads  all  ready  for  it.'* 

A  few  days  later  he  called  again,  bringing  with  him 
the  purchasing  agent  of  his  company,  who  was  as 
much  impressed  as  he  had  been  with  the  promise  the 
new  device  held  forth  ;  but,  in  spite  of  Card's  urgent 
appeal  that  he  order  an  experimental  outfit  and  make 
a  practical  test  at  the  company's  cost,  the  agent  de- 
clined, on  the  ground  that  he  dared  not  take  so 
material  a  step  without  authority  from  the  directors. 
He  would,  he  added,  go  before  the  board  with 
Mr.  Card  and  put  the  case  to  them  as  strongly  as 
he  could. 

He  was  as  good  as  his  word.  The  directors,  how- 
ever, balked  at  the  proposed  outlay,  and  the  net 
result  of  the  whole  negotiation  was  a  written  order 
from  the  president  of  the  company,  Thomas  L.  Jewett, 
that  the  use  of  a  train  for  a  trial  trip  be  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  inventor,  conditioned  on  the  latter's 
contracting  to  equip  it  at  his  own  expense  and  to 
reimburse  the  company  for  any  damage  done  to 
locomotive  or  cars  by  the  attachment  of  the  appa- 
ratus. 

This  was  no  better,  really,  than  the  Pitcairn-Cas- 
satt  proposal,  but  the  young  men  were  tired  of  al- 
ternate hopes  and  disappointments,  and  grasped  at 
it  rather  than  wait  longer.  They  differed  only  on 
one  point.  Westinghouse,  with  his  fervid  imagina- 
tion in  full  action,  was  willing  to  run  into  almost  any 
debt  for  the  money  needed  to  get  ready ;  Baggaley, 


68  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

who  had  had  some  experience  in  handling  funds, 
insisted  that  they  must  keep  every  expenditure  down 
to  the  lowest  practicable  figure.  With  what  they 
had  already  done  in  the  way  of  building  a  specimen 
brake  apparatus,  it  took  them  a  comparatively  short 
time  to  complete  their  preparations,  and  on  the  day 
appointed  they  had  on  hand  their  air  pump,  their 
main  reservoir  for  the  locomotive,  cylinders  for  four 
cars  —  the  maximum  length  of  the  accommodation 
train  on  which  the  test  was  to  be  made  —  and  the 
piping  and  hose  connections  required  to  connect  the 
locomotive  reservoir  with  the  car  cylinders.  On 
the  morning  fixed  for  the  trial  trip,  the  rear  car  of  the 
train  was  reserved  for  a  party  of  invited  guests,  in- 
cluding those  officers  of  the  Panhandle  company  who 
were  not  too  timid  to  risk  life  and  limb  with  an  un- 
tried device,  and  a  few  magnates  of  other  companies 
who  seemed  to  have  an  open  mind  on  the  subject  of 
the  new  brake. 

Daniel  Tate,  the  engineer,  was  a  bright  young  fel- 
low, and  it  did  not  take  Westinghouse  a  great  while 
to  give  him  the  final  instructions  about  the  brake  so 
that  he  felt  perfectly  confident  of  his  ability  to  make 
it  work.  Westinghouse,  as  he  descended  from  the 
cab,  grasped  Tate's  hand  and  wrung  it  with  warmth. 

"All  I  ask  of  you,  Dan,"  said  he  earnestly,  "is  to 
give  this  thing  a  fair  show.  Good  luck  to  you !" 

Dan  nodded  a  promise,  and  reached  for  his  bell 
rope.  As  he  did  so,  something  dropped  from  his 
hand,  the  one  Westinghouse  had  been  shaking.  It 
was  a  little  paper  wad,  which,  when  he  had  picked 
it  up  and  smoothed  it  out,  proved  to  be  a  fifty-dollar 


DOUBT  CHANGED   TO   CERTAINTY        69 

note.  Acting  on  quick  impulse  to  restore  what  he 
feared  was  lost  money,  he  leaned  out  of  the  cab  and 
looked  down  the  train ;  Westinghouse  was  just 
boarding  the  hindmost  car.  Their  eyes  met,  and 
Tate  held  up  the  bill.  Westinghouse  smiled,  but 
motioned  him  to  put  it  into  his  pocket.  Tate  did 
so,  well  pleased  with  the  generosity  of  the  gift,  but 
little  suspecting  that  it  contained  the  last  dollar  the 
young  man  had  in  purse  or  in  prospect. 

Within  a  short  distance  of  the  Panhandle  station 
was  a  tunnel  about  one  sixth  of  a  mile  long,  piercing 
Grant  Hill  and  emerging  at  Fourth  Avenue,  where 
accommodation  trains  were  accustomed  to  halt  to 
pick  up  passengers.  As  this  trial  train  was  not  to 
stop  there,  Tate  rapidly  increased  its  speed  till  it 
was  moving  at  the  rate  of  about  thirty  miles  an  hour. 
Abundant  precaution  was  supposed  to  have  been 
taken  to  prevent  pedestrians  or  vehicles  from  getting 
upon  the  track  at  the  two  surface  crossings  between 
there  and  the  bridge  spanning  the  Monongahela  River, 
beyond  which  the  Panhandle  ran  into  the  open  coun- 
try. But,  of  course,  "  a  fool  there  was"  in  the  person 
of  a  drayman  on  Second  Avenue  who  disregarded 
all  warnings  and  pushed  ahead  till,  as  his  horses 
stepped  into  the  space  between  the  rails,  he  saw 
bearing  down  upon  him,  only  two  blocks  away,  the 
big,  black  front  of  a  locomotive.  It  was  too  late  to 
pull  back,  and  in  a  frenzy  of  terror  he  laid  the  lash 
with  all  his  might  over  the  animals'  flanks.  The 
horses  were  as  badly  demoralized  as  he,  and  their 
first  response  was  to  plunge  forward  with  a  motion 
which  loosened  the  crosswise  plank  he  was  using  for 


70  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

a  seat,  and  threw  him  to  the  ground  with  his  body 
across  one  of  the  rails. 

The  whole  thing  had  happened  in  barely  an  instant 
of  time,  and  a  tragedy  was  averted  only  by  the  quick 
wit  of  the  engineer.  Tate,  who  had  just  been  turn- 
ing over  in  his  mind  the  most  effective  way  of  bring- 
ing the  train  to  a  standstill  at  the  first  station  where 
it  was  to  halt,  reached  instinctively  for  the  brake 
valve  and  gave  it  a  mighty  twist.  The  air  rushed 
out  of  the  compressor  through  the  pipes  into  the 
cylinders  beneath  the  cars,  and  the  pistons  brought 
the  brake  shoes  with  force  against  the  wheels.  There 
was  a  grating  sound  and  a  sudden  jar  as  the  train 
came  to  a  stop  with  the  cowcatcher  of  the  locomotive 
only  four  feet  on  the  safe  side  of  the  unhappy  driver. 

In  the  flash  of  an  eye  Tate  had  swung  himself  out 
of  the  cab  and  was  helping  the  man  to  his  feet.  Then, 
leaving  his  fireman  in  charge  of  the  engine,  he  ran 
back  to  see  how  the  stop  had  affected  the  train  gen- 
erally. He  was  met  by  Westinghouse  and  a  number 
of  the  invited  guests,  most  of  whom  were  rubbing 
their  heads  or  their  shins,  or  pressing  their  battered 
hats  into  shape  as  they  limped  along.  Every  one 
was  eager  to  know  what  the  matter  was,  and  the 
pleasure  of  all  at  learning  that  the  spasmodic  appli- 
cation of  the  brakes  had  saved  a  human  life,  was  a 
salve  to  the  discomfort  they  had  suffered  from  being 
hurled  without  warning  out  of  their  seats  and  strewn 
over  the  floor  of  their  car,  which,  as  the  tail  of  the 
train,  had  received  the  worst  shock.  When  they 
had  first  alighted  they  had  been  almost  in  fighting 
mood  ;  but  as  they  climbed  back  the  general  verdict 


DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY        71 

was  that  the  air  brake  was  capable  of  doing  what  its 
inventor  claimed  for  it.  A  question  was  raised 
whether,  having  witnessed  such  a  demonstration, 
they  should  reverse  the  train  and  return  to  Pitts- 
burgh ;  but  the  proposal  was  unanimously  voted 
down,  and  the  whole  party  proceeded  to  Steuben- 
ville  as  originally  planned.  Tate  treated  them,  on 
the  way,  to  several  tests  which  were  as  satisfying, 
even  if  not  quite  so  drastic,  as  the  initial  one.  He 
was  as  pleased  with  the  apparatus  as  a  child  with  a 
new  toy,  and  took  the  utmost  pride  in  showing  how 
easily,  and  with  what  varied  effects,  it  could  be 
handled. 

When  the  return  trip  was  ended,  Westinghouse, 
full  of  elation  over  his  triumph,  shook  hands  with  his 
guests  and  started  for  home  to  tell  his  wife  the  news. 
But  before  he  got  many  steps  away  from  the  station 
he  paused  and  reentered  it,  hastening  to  the  telegraph 
office,  where  he  filed  the  following  despatch  to  his 
father  in  Schenectady : 

"  My  air  brake  had  practical  trial  today  on  passen- 
ger train  on  Panhandle  Railroad  and  proved  a  great 
success.  GEORGE.  " 

He  was  still  sanguine  enough  to  hope  that,  in  the 
face  of  such  a  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  the  old  gentle- 
man would  experience  a  change  of  heart  and  volunteer 
an  offer  to  finance  the  next  stage  of  the  business. 
But  nothing  of  the  sort  was  forthcoming.  Mr.  West- 
inghouse was  evidently  in  no  haste  to  make  a  princely 
fortune.  His  only  response  to  the  telegram  was  a 
short  and  characteristic  letter  expressing  in  prudent 


72  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

phraseology  his  pleasure  at  reading  so  favorable  a 
report,  and  remarking  that,  the  brake  having  al- 
ready "proved  a  great  success,"  of  course  there  would 
be  no  further  difficulty  in  procuring  all  the  money 
needed  for  manufacturing  and  marketing  it. 

The  first  air  brake  patent  was  issued  to  Westing- 
house  on  the  thirteenth  of  April,  1869.  But  mean- 
while he  had  not  been  idle.  Feeling  that  he  now 
could  afford  to  resign  his  place  as  salesman  for 
Anderson  and  Cook  and  devote  his  entire  time  to 
the  promotion  of  his  new  enterprise,  he  laid  certain 
plans  before  Baggaley,  who  gladly  joined  forces  with 
him.  The  firm  with  which  Baggaley  had  been  con- 
nected was  dissolved,  and  its  foundry  was  converted 
temporarily  into  a  plant  for  the  manufacture  of  air 
brakes.  Some  of  the  leading  officers  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company,  having  recovered  from 
their  first  apathy  and  being  anxious  to  make  up  for 
lost  time,  fitted  out  an  exhibition  train  to  run  to 
Altoona,  primarily  to  show  the  working  of  the  new 
brake  to  the  directors  of  their  corporation,  but  in- 
cidentally to  perform  an  important  service  in  pub- 
licity. A  number  of  newspaper  writers  were  taken 
along,  and  in  a  few  days  the  press  everywhere  was 
furnished  with  the  story  of  the  invention. 

In  Philadelphia,  Westinghouse  used  the  same  train 
for  demonstration  purposes,  with  many  prominent 
railroad  men  from  various  parts  of  the  country  as 
witnesses;  among  the  rest  was  the  general  super- 
intendent of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  system, 
who  was  so  impressed  with  what  he  saw  that  he  in- 
vited the  inventor  to  bring  the  train  to  Chicago  and 


DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY    73 

exhibit  it.  This  was  done,  with  the  effect  of  intro- 
ducing the  brake  to  the  notice  of  a  number  of  Western 
railroad  managers  who  had  not  yet  seen  it  work. 
From  Chicago  Westinghouse  was  invited  to  St.  Louis, 
where  the  same  thing  was  repeated.  From  that 
point  the  brake  made  its  own  way  without  the  ex- 
penditure of  any  extraordinary  effort,  and  orders 
began  to  come  in  from  quarters  where  the  inventor 
had  but  recently  seen  only  the  cold  shoulder  turned 
toward  his  advances. 

In  July,  1869,  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Com- 
pany was  organized  under  a  Pennsylvania  charter 
with  a  capitalization  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
In  these  days  when  we  talk  of  all  considerable  enter- 
prises in  terms  of  millions,  this  seems  like  a  modest 
start,  but  measured  by  the  standards  of  half  a  cen- 
tury ago  it  was  regarded  as  a  very  heavy  responsi- 
bility for  a  comparative  youth  of  unknown  antece- 
dents to  shoulder.  The  board  of  directors  was  wisely 
chosen  from  among  the  group  of  men  who  were 
familiar  with  the  air  brake  mechanism  and  had  wit- 
nessed the  experimental  tests  of  its  efficiency,  and 
whose  names,  for  the  most  part,  stood  for  something 
in  the  railroad  world.  These  were  Robert  Pitcairn, 
W.  W.  Card,  Andrew  J.  Cassatt,  Edward  H.  Williams, 
G.  D.  Whitcomb,  Ralph  Baggaley,  and,  of  course, 
Westinghouse,  who  became  first  president  of  the 
corporation.  John  Caldwell  was  elected  treasurer. 

Everything  seemed  to  be  moving  along  as  satis- 
factorily as  could  be  hoped,  when  the  directors,  at 
one  of  their  meetings,  were  treated  to  a  shock.  A 
patent  expert  whom  they  had  engaged  to  go  through 


74  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

all  the  railway  brake  literature  of  this  and  other  coun- 
tries, and  ascertain  for  them  just  what  relation  the 
Westinghouse  invention  bore  to  previous  essays  in 
the  same  field,  brought  in  a  report  that,  about  thirty 
years  before,  essentially  the  same  device  had  been 
patented  in  England,  but  proved  so  unpractical  that 
the  patent  expired  before  any  use  had  been  made  of 
it.  The  consternation  which  reigned  for  a  little 
while  was  dispelled  when  Westinghouse,  by  an  analy- 
sis of  the  terms  of  the  British  patent,  showed  that 
the  mechanism  it  covered  was  unworkable  in  emer- 
gencies because,  before  the  brake  could  be  applied, 
the  locomotive  driver  was  required  to  turn  steam 
into  a  pump  for  compressing  the  air,  whereas  his  own 
apparatus  had  the  air  already  stored  in  a  compressor 
on  the  locomotive. 

The  discomforting  suggestion  conveyed  in  the 
report,  however,  promptly  bore  good  fruit ;  for  the 
always  lively  imagination  of  young  Westinghouse 
was  spurred  by  it  to  the  question:  ''If  the  English 
railways  are  still  unequipped  with  a  first-rate  air 
brake,  why  not  sell  them  mine?"  As  usual  with 
him,  action  was  quick  to  follow  thought.  The  Pitts- 
burgh works  had  got  well  under  way  during  the 
winter  of  1869  and  1870,  and  by  the  autumn  of  the 
latter  year  he  was  ready  for  his  invasion  of  the  old 
world.  Although  he  took  his  wife  with  him,  it  cost 
him  something  of  a  wrench  to  cut  loose  from  the  scene 
of  his  first  large  activities,  for  he  had  recently  bought 
a  house  and  lot  at  Homewood,  on  the  eastern  edge 
of  the  city,  christened  the  little  estate  "  Solitude ", 
and  Gettled  down  to  his  first  real  experience  as  lord 


DOUBT  CHANGED  TO  CERTAINTY    75 

of  a  domestic  establishment.  But  if  he  were  made  a 
trifle  homesick  by  the  prospect  of  leaving  everything 
on  which  he  had  fixed  his  heart's  desire  on  this  side 
of  the  water,  he  felt  more  so  when  he  reached  the 
other  side  and  found  himself  in  the  chilliest  atmos- 
phere he  had  ever  encountered. 


CHAPTER  VI, 
"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS  LIKE  SUCCESS " 

AMERICANS  who  know  England  and  the  English 
only  on  the  hospitable  side  they  present  to  our  coun- 
try and  its  people  today  will  have  some  difficulty  in 
appreciating  the  situation  existing  when  George 
Westinghouse  made  his  first  entry  into  London. 
Up  to  that  time  there  had  not  been  established  any 
of  the  reciprocity  of  cordial  sentiment  which  has 
characterized  the  intercourse  of  the  two  nations  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  years.  On  our  part,  we  were 
still  cherishing  the  hostile  traditions  of  1776  and  1812, 
and  resentful  memories  of  the  privateering  episodes 
of  the  early  '6o's ;  on  theirs,  there  was  a  sense  of 
rancor  at  our  encouragement,  for  political  purposes, 
of  Irish  insurgency  and  almost  everything  else  that 
was  notoriously  anti-English.  Moreover,  in  those 
days,  whatever  was  associated  with  American  rail- 
roading was  under  more  or  less  suspicion  in  England, 
owing  to  several  well-advertised  misfortunes  suffered 
by  English  investors  in  wildcat  projects  here.  The 
era  of  corporate  inflation  opened  by  our  Civil  War, 
the  launching  of  the  first  crude  schemes  for  trans- 
continental rail  routes,  the  abuse  of  the  Erie  system 
as  a  football  of  professional  stock  gamblers,  and  the 
struggle  continually  going  on  between  rival  specu- 


"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS  LIKE  SUCCESS"      77 

lative  rings  for  the  control  of  a  few  valuable  properties 
for  questionable  purposes  had  combined  to  give  the 
more  conservative  element  in  English  business  circles 
a  notion  of  American  affairs  generally  as  disagreeable 
as  it  was  unjust. 

In  view  of  these  conditions,  it  appeared  to  West- 
inghouse  a  wise  precaution  to  ascertain  the  feeling 
of  the  scientific  periodicals  toward  such  an  invention 
as  his  before  attempting  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of 
any  of  the  carrying  companies.  He  made  overtures 
in  one  or  two  quarters  where,  as  soon  as  he  announced 
his  nationality,  he  met  with  a  repulse.  The  last 
journal  he  approached  was  Engineering,  a  weekly 
which  he  had  seen  now  and  then  at  home,  where  its 
original  editor,  Zerah  Colburn,  was  well  known. 
Two  editors  had  since  succeeded  Mr.  Colburn  — 
Messrs.  W.  H.  Maw  and  J.  Dredge.  It  so  happened 
that  when  he  made  his  first  call  Mr.  Maw  was  out 
of  the  office,  and  he  was  received  by  Mr.  Dredge, 
who  seemed,  in  spite  of  the  customary  English  re- 
serve, to  take  an  instant  liking  to  him.  In  a  few 
minutes  Westinghouse  was  deep  in  his  exposition  of 
his  air  brake.  Dredge  listened  curiously,  but  gave 
him  no  immediate  sign  of  encouragement.  At  the 
close  of  their  talk,  Westinghouse  left  with  the  editor 
a  copy  of  his  patent,  with  some  additional  drawings 
and  a  popular  description  prepared  by  himself. 
Mr.  Dredge  consented  to  examine  the  documents 
carefully  as  soon  as  he  could  command  the  necessary 
time,  and,  if  he  found  them  satisfactory,  to  publish 
his  impressions. 

"But  I  warn  you,  Mr.  Westinghouse/'  he  said 


78  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

good-naturedly,  as  he  fastened  the  folio  and  laid  it 
among  his  more  important  papers,  "you  have  put 
your  head  into  the  lion's  mouth,  and  will  have  no 
one  but  yourself  to  blame  if  it  is  bitten  off." 

"I'll  take  my  chances,"  laughed  Westinghouse. 
"Of  course,  it  makes  a  world  of  difference  if  you  know 
the  habits  of  your  lion." 

The  whimsical  challenge,  though  taken  up  so 
blithely  on  the  spot,  recurred  to  the  inventor's  mind 
several  times  between  this  interview  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  next  issue  of  Engineering,  through  which 
he  looked  in  vain  for  any  comment  on  his  brake. 
Every  time  he  thought  of  it,  it  had  taken  on  a  little 
more  serious  significance,  till  he  had  begun  to  wonder 
whether  he  might  not,  after  all,  have  made  a  mistake 
in  coming  to  a  periodical  of  so  high  standing  before 
making  a  practical  test  of  his  brake  somewhere  in 
Great  Britain.  The  notion  was  strengthened  when, 
after  a  considerable  interval,  he  called  upon  Mr. 
Dredge  again,  to  inquire  what  prospect  there  was  of 
an  article  at  an  early  date.  The  editor  handed  him 
a  sheet  of  proof  to  read,  with  the  remark:  "I  have 
been  favorably  impressed  with  your  brake,  from  the 
literature  about  it  which  you  left  me.  I  am  keeping 
that  for  future  use  if  an  occasion  offers  itself.  Just 
now,  however,  the  thing  for  you  to  do  is  to  place  your 
brake  on  one  of  our  railways  and  give  a  public  ex- 
hibition of  its  working.  The  readers  of  Engineering 
will  take  far  more  interest  in  a  statement  of  what  we 
have  seen  with  our  own  eyes  than  in  any  suggestion 
we  might  print,  founded  on  nothing  more  substantial 
than  your  patent  and  claims." 


"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS  LIKE  SUCCESS"      79 

"My  brake/'  argued  Westinghouse,  "is  already 
in  constant  use  on  several  American  roads." 

"Doubtless,"  assented  Dredge;  "and  yet  you 
will  appreciate  the  fact  that  our  people  are  a  bit  skep- 
tical about  the  operations  of  American  railways  un- 
less they  have  evidence  of  a  very  convincing  char- 
acter." 

"What  do  you  wish?  Shall  I  give  you  a  list  of 
the  roads  in  the  United  States  which  use  my  brake, 
and  let  you  write  to  the  managers  and  learn  for  your- 
self whether  my  pretensions  are  justified?" 

"That's  not  a  bad  idea.  Incidentally,  however, 
I  have  put  into  your  hands  the  rough  draft  of  some- 
thing I  shall  say  in  Engineering  apropos  of  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  air  brakes.  If  your  invention  proves 
to  be  all  that  you  say  it  is,  this  demand  of  mine  will 
make  a  very  good  form  of  introduction  for  what  I 
may  wish  to  write  later.  Mind  you,  I  am  not  saying 
that  all  you  claim  may  not  be  absolutely  well  founded. 
I  merely  intend  to  take  reasonable  means  of  assuring 
myself." 

Westinghouse  withdrew,  bearing  with  him  Dredge's 
proof  sheet,  which  he  read  with  interest  at  the  first 
opportunity.  It  was  a  broad  plea  for  a  better  brake 
than  any  then  in  use  on  British  railways,  and  it  gave 
a  catalogue  of  the  qualities  which  the  editor  con- 
sidered essential  to  a  satisfactory  continuous  braking 
system  for  trains,  about  as  follows : 

First,  the  brakes  must  be  applicable  with  equal 
facility  by  either  the  locomotive-driver  or  the  guards 
who  might  be  in  various  parts  of  a  train ; 

Second,  the  act  of  applying  the  brakes  must  call 


8o  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

for  only  a  slight  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  person 
performing  it ; 

Third,  the  application  must  be  capable  of  either 
instantaneous  or  gradual  performance,  according  to 
the  peculiar  character  of  the  exigency ; 

Fourth,  if  a  part  of  the  train  breaks  loose  from  the 
rest,  the  brakes  must  come  automatically  into  play ; 

Fifth,  the  system  must  permit  carriages,  whether 
fitted  with  the  brakes  or  not,  to  be  attached  to,  or 
detached  from,  the  train  ; 

Sixth,  when  a  train  is  divided,  the  brakes  on  every 
division  must  be  capable  of  working  independently ; 

Seventh,  the  failure  of  the  brake  apparatus  on  one 
or  more  carriages  must  not  interfere  with  the  action 
of  the  brakes  on  the  rest  of  the  train ; 

Eighth,  the  brake  mechanism  must  be  of  very 
simple  character,  easy  to  maintain,  and  not  liable  to 
derangement  by  rough  use,  or  disuse  and  neglect. 

At  a  first  reading,  these  conditions  struck  Westing- 
house  as  rather  severe,  but  he  was  cheerfulness  itself 
when  next  he  called  upon  Dredge  and  offered  to 
return  the  borrowed  proof. 

"Oh,  keep  it,  if  it  interests  you,"  said  the  editor, 
with  a  wave  of  the  hand.  "Are  you  prepared  now 
to  tell  me  that  your  brake  meets  all  my  require- 
ments?" 

"By  no  means,"  answered  Westinghouse.  "But 
it  is  still  in  its  infancy,  and  I  am  quite  certain  that 
before  I  get  through  with  it  you  will  have  no  fault 
to  find  with  its  operation." 

"You  are  still  working  on  it?" 

"I  don't  suppose  I  shall  ever  stop." 

"By  Jove!"  Dredge  brought  his  flat  palm  down 
upon  a  pile  of  papers  before  him.  "You  speak  like 


"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS   LIKE  SUCCESS"      81 

a  man  of  spirit.  I  like  that.  Although  you  are  an 
inventor,  you're  not  blinded  by  your  own  genius." 

"No,  I  can  still  see  well  enough  to  discover  the 
faults  in  your  catalogue  of  requisites." 

"For  example — ?"    the  editor  was  all  attention. 

"For  a  first  criticism,  you  are  indiscriminate.  You 
apparently  recognize  no  distinction  between  the 
needs  of  a  train  making  long  runs  and  one  that  has 
a  short  route  and  stops  every  few  minutes  —  what 
we  call  in  America  an  '  accommodation.'  Don't  you 
see  that  the  chances  are  all  against  having  to  divide  a 
train,  attach  and  detach  cars,  and  so  forth  where  the 
stations  are  only  eight  or  ten  miles  apart  at  most  ?  " 

"That  is  a  fair  criticism  as  far  as  it  goes."  Dredge 
made  a  few  notes  in  pencil  on  a  memorandum  sheet. 
"What  next?" 

"Why,  perhaps  I  should  take  an  exception  also 
to  your  fourth  demand,  when  applied  to  local  trains. 
With  fast  running,  there  is  always  the  liability  that 
a  coupling  may  break  under  the  strain,  and  your 
train  be  cut  in  two ;  whereas,  at  any  speed  ever 
reached  between  stations  almost  within  gunshot  of 
each  other,  the  possibility  of  such  an  accident  is 
reduced  to  a  minimum." 

"Nevertheless,  you  admit  that  it  exists?" 

"Of  course.  But  don't  you  see  that  the  forward 
fragment  of  your  train  would  reach  the  next  station 
so  soon  that  there  would  really  be  no  danger  to  life 
or  property  before  the  missing  part  could  be  picked 
up  and  reattached?" 

" There  it  is!  You  Americans  are  always  calcu- 
lating probabilities  —  taking  chances." 


82  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

"And  you  Britishers  go  to  the  other  extreme, 
which  is  just  as  bad,  or  worse.  I  wonder  you  ever 
dare  lay  out  a  program  for  tomorrow ;  who  knows 
that  it  will  come?" 

Dredge,  so  far  from  being  nettled  by  the  retort, 
chuckled  audibly. 

"Very  well,  Young  America,  I've  made  a  note  of 
your  criticisms  and  will  give  them  due  consideration. 
I  still  stand  by  my  first  proposition,  however,  that 
Engineering  had  better  wait  until  you  have  placed 
your  brake  on  an  experimental  train  in  this  country, 
as  you  did  at  the  start  in  the  United  States.  Then, 
whatever  we  print  will  have  weight/' 

There  being  nothing  left  to  discuss,  Westinghouse 
took  his  leave,  and  the  next  morning  entered  upon  a 
systematic  campaign  among  the  railway  companies. 
He  had  brought  with  him,  from  men  of  standing  in 
the  transportation  business  in  America,  letters  of 
introduction  to  some  of  their  English  brethren ;  but 
in  spite  of  such  an  armament  he  found  it  no  easy 
matter  to  pierce  the  wall  of  form  and  ceremony  with 
which  these  magnates  had  surrounded  themselves. 
As  illustrative  of  the  common  attitude,  he  used  to 
enjoy,  later  in  life,  telling  the  story  of  his  visit  to  the 
managing  director  of  one  great  railway,  whom  he 
asked,  by  way  of  opening  conversation,  whether  he 
had  read  a  little  pamphlet  that  had  been  mailed  him 
a  few  days  before,  descriptive  of  the  new  brake. 

"No,"  was  the  frigid  response.  "I  receive  many 
pamphlets  in  my  mail,  but  I  rarely  read  them." 

"Neither  do  I,"  said  Westinghouse;  "most  of 
them  would  not  pay  me  for  my  time.  But  as  this 


"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS  LIKE  SUCCESS"      83 

one  contains  information  about  a  new  thing  in  your 
special  field  —  " 

"So  many  new  things/'  interrupted  the  manager, 
"are  worthless,  that  as  a  rule  they  have  ceased  to 
interest  me." 

"Well,  here  is  one  which  will,  I  am  sure."  West- 
inghouse  drew  a  duplicate  from  his  pocket.  "With 
your  permission,  I  will  give  you  a  brief  abstract  of 
its  contents."  And  he  plunged,  as  he  had  so  often 
while  his  invention  was  still  untried,  into  a  recitation 
of  its  points  of  especial  merit,  concluding  his  speech 
with  an  account  of  the  actual  tests  it  had  met  so 
creditably  on  American  railroads.  At  the  close  of 
his  exposition  he  asked  permission  to  equip  a  loco- 
motive, tender  and  car  on  this  gentleman's  road,  and 
prove  beyond  question  what  the  apparatus  could  do. 

"Let  you  use  our  property  for  such  a  purpose?" 
ejaculated  the  astounded  manager.  "I  really  could 
not  think  of  it  for  a  moment ! " 

"But  I  am  ready  to  attach  my  apparatus  at  my 
own  expense,"  pleaded  the  visitor. 

"Oh,  quite  so,  quite  so;  I  take  that  for  granted. 
It  makes  no  difference,  however.  We  have  not  a 
locomotive,  a  tender  or  a  carriage  to  spare  for  your 
experiments." 

'Then  could  I  not  hire  the  necessary  vehicles, 
equip  them  with  my  brake,  and  give  an  exhibition 
in  the  presence  of  any  number  of  gentlemen  you  care 
to  invite?" 

"No,  no.  You  positively  must  take  my  refusal 
as  final.  In  the  plainest  terms,  we  do  not  wish  to 
rent  any  of  our  rolling  stock  for  you  to  use  in  your 


84  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

demonstration. "  By  this  time  the  railroad  man's 
manner  was  very  impatient,  and  his  face  was  grow- 
ing purple.  In  spite  of  so  threatening  a  symptom 
the  inventor  persisted. 

"  Possibly  you  will  consent,  then,  to  sell  me  a  train  ? 
All  I  really  need  is  a  locomotive,  a  tender  and  four 
passenger  coaches.  What  is  your  price  for  such  an 
outfit  over  here?" 

If  this  irrepressible  young  Yankee  had  struck  him 
with  a  bludgeon,  the  Englishman  could  hardly  have 
appeared  more  dazed.  It  took  him  a  full  minute  to 
realize  what  he  had  heard,  and  to  make  sure  that  his 
visitor  was  in  earnest,  before  he  answered  : 

"You  will  have  to  give  me  a  little  time  to  consider 
that  question.  It  is  too  extraordinary  to  be  settled 
in  an  instant.  I  can  probably  give  you  an  answer 
in  about  a  week.  But  I  assume  you  understand 
that,  even  if  we  consent  to  sell  you  a  train,  such  a 
concession  would  not  include  permission  to  run  over 
our  tracks  with  your  machinery.  We  must  stop 
short  of  that,  you  know." 

Rising  with  a  bow  which  announced  as  distinctly 
as  words  that  the  interview  was  at  an  end,  the  man 
of  fifty  dismissed  the  youth  of  twenty- five  quite 
without  a  thought  that  the  next  time  they  met  for  a 
negotiation  the  man  would  be  making  the  bid  and 
the  youth  taking  time  to  consider  it. 

But  this  is  what  happened,  though  it  was  a  good 
while  in  coming.  In  March,  1872,  the  London  and 
North-Western  Railway  Company  gave  Westing- 
house  permission  to  exhibit  his  brake  on  its  line  be- 
tween Stafford  and  Crewe,  and,  about  the  same  time, 


"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS  LIKE  SUCCESS"      85 

he  was  allowed  to  equip  a  train  of  twelve  passenger 
coaches  and  two  freight  cars  for  a  series  of  tests  on 
the  Caledonian  Railway  between  Glasgow  and 
Wemyss  Bay.  In  each  instance  the  demonstration 
was  successful.  A  little  later  several  trials  were  made 
on  the  South-Eastern  Railway  with  a  train  consisting 
of  a  locomotive,  tender,  and  six  cars,  and  the  witnesses 
were  free  with  their  praise  of  the  way  the  apparatus 
acted.  Still,  neither  these  corporations,  nor  any 
others  whose  representatives  were  present  at  the 
tests,  were  willing  to  prove  their  satisfaction  at  once 
by  formally  adopting  the  Westinghouse  brake  as 
their  standard.  The  first  real  step  forward  was  taken 
by  the  Metropolitan  District  Railway  in  London  in 
January,  1873.  Eighteen  months  afterward  the 
British  Board  of  Trade  conducted  a  series  of  brake 
trials  in  which  chain,  hydraulic,  and  vacuum  brakes 
competed  with  the  air  brake.  In  1875  another  series 
of  tests  was  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  British 
Railways  Accident  Commission.  In  all  these  the 
Westinghouse  proved  itself  the  most  efficient  con- 
tinuous brake  on  the  market.  Everybody  except 
the  vacuum  brake  manufacturers  seemed  willing  to 
concede  its  superiority,  but  many  of  the  railroad 
managers  complained  that  it  was  too  expensive. 
This  brought  Engineering  again  to  the  fore  with 
evidence  gathered  from  a  host  of  American  experts 
that  the  original  cost  of  equipping  their  lines  with 
Westinghouse  brakes  was  more  than  made  up  by 
the  saving  on  repairs. 

At  first  Westinghouse  had  fancied  that  the  reluc- 
tance manifested  in  England  to  accepting  his  brake 


86  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

outright  might  be  due  to  the  local  railways  having 
already  some  sufficiently  good  apparatus  of  which  he 
had  not  learned.  To  see  for  himself  the  actual  con- 
ditions, he  engaged  a  man  familiar  with  local  railway 
operations  to  travel  with  him  throughout  Great 
Britain.  Speaking  afterward  of  these  trips  he  said  : 
"I  found  that  there  were  no  continuous  brakes  in 
use  except  on  a  few  trains  on  the  London  and  North- 
Western  and  the  North  London  railways.  These 
were  fitted  with  Clark's  chain  brakes,  operated  by  a 
guard  from  the  brake  van,  and  not  connected  or  at- 
tached to  the  locomotive.  I  failed  to  find  a  single 
continuous  brake  in  which  power  was  communicated 
throughout  the  train  through  lines  of  pipe,  except 
what  was  known  as  Barker's  hydraulic  system,  which 
was  then  in  process  of  trial.  There  never  had  been 
any  compressed  air  brakes  in  successful  operation  in 
England.  The  London,  Chatham,  and  Dover  Rail- 
way had  tried  one  on  a  train  running  between  the 
Crystal  Palace  and  Victoria  station,  but  had  aban- 
doned it  as  unsatisfactory ;  and  the  locomotive 
superintendent  of  the  Great  Northern  Railway  had 
had  some  sort  of  experience  with  one  which  convinced 
him  that  the  underlying  principle  was  impracticable, 
so  that  for  a  long  time  I  could  not  obtain  even  a 
hearing  in  that  quarter.  With  these  exceptions  I 
could  find  no  evidence  that  air  brakes  of  any  kind 
had  ever  even  been  tried." 

Not  all  the  period  covered  by  this  outline  was 
passed  continuously  in  England.  Between  1871 
and  1 88 1  Westinghouse  crossed  the  ocean  repeatedly, 
keeping  thus  in  close  touch  with  his  American  com- 


"NOTHING  SUCCEEDS   LIKE  SUCCESS"      87 

pany.  He  also  made  several  fruitful  visits  to  the 
Continental  capitals,  where  the  air  brake  met  with  a 
much  warmer  reception  than  among  English  railway 
managers.  In  Belgium,  for  example,  a  royal  com- 
mission of  engineers,  after  a  thorough  comparison 
of  his  brake  with  all  others  which  had  been  brought 
to  their  attention,  adopted  it  as  the  standard  equip- 
ment for  the  state  railways ;  and  from  other  sources 
there  gradually  came  limited  orders  which,  though 
obviously  only  experimental,  gave  him  a  feeling  that 
his  invention  was  making  its  way  in  the  old  world  in 
spite  of  its  apparently  unpromising  start.  To  fa- 
cilitate the  handling  of  his  European  business,  he 
organized  a  British  corporation  and  established  a 
large  plant  for  the  manufacture  of  the  brake,  with 
executive  offices  in  London.  His  most  formidable 
competitor  was  a  vacuum  brake  company ;  and  it 
is  significant  of  the  conservatism  bred  into  the  flesh 
and  bone  of  even  the  most  intelligent  class  of  English- 
men that,  though  the  rest  of  the  world  has  for  the 
most  part  adopted  the  air  brake  as  by  far  the  most 
satisfactory  device  yet  invented,  many  of  the  British 
railroads  are  still  committed  to  the  vacuum  brake 
and  resist  all  movements  for  a  change. 

Meanwhile,  instead  of  resenting  criticisms  which 
often  were  hard  to  bear,  Westinghouse  had  turned 
them  to  profit  by  studying  out  the  improvements 
they  called  for  in  one  and  another  feature,  culminat- 
ing in  the  invention  of  the  now  familiar  automatic 
brake,  which  he  patented  in  1872,  and  which  fulfilled 
in  every  respect  the  ideal  requirements  proposed 
by  Mr.  Dredge.  The  original  non-automatic  or 


88  GEORGE   WESTINGHOUSE 

" straight-air"  brake  had  consisted  of  a  very  simple 
steam-actuated  air  pump  placed  on  the  side  of  the 
locomotive,  and  a  reservoir  in  which  the  compressed 
air  could  be  stored.  A  pipe  line  from  the  reservoir 
was  carried  through  the  length  of  the  train,  connec- 
tions between  vehicles  being  made  by  means  of  hose 
and  couplings.  Every  vehicle  was  provided  with  a 
simple  cast-iron  cylinder,  the  piston  rod  of  which 
was  connected  with  the  brake  rigging  in  such  a  way 
that  when  the  air  was  admitted  to  the  cylinder  the 
piston  was  forced  out,  and  the  brakes  were  thereby 
applied.  In  the  engineer's  cab  there  was  placed  in 
the  pipe  line  a  three-way  cock,  by  means  of  which 
compressed  air  could  be  admitted  to  the  pipe  line 
and  thus  to  the  cylinder  on  every  car;  or  the  air 
already  in  the  cylinders  and  pipe  line  could  be  dis- 
charged to  the  atmosphere,  releasing  the  brakes. 

Excellent  as  this  apparatus  was  by  comparison 
with  any  predecessor  in  the  same  line,  it  lacked 
certain  desirable  features  and  was  liable  to  prove 
inoperative  in  some  emergency  when  it  would  be 
most  needed,  from  the  bursting  of  the  hose  under 
pressure,  the  parting  of  the  train  or  other  rupture  of 
the  system.  In  order  to  obviate  such  perilous  pos- 
sibilities, Westinghouse  brought  out  what  is  now 
known  as  the  automatic  brake.  Its  essential  differ- 
ence from  the  " straight-air"  brake  consisted  in  the 
installation  of  supplementary  or  auxiliary  reservoirs 
for  the  storage  of  compressed  air  on  the  cars  in  addi- 
tion to  the  main  reservoir  on  the  locomotive ;  thus 
every  vehicle  carried  its  own  source  of  power,  and 
the  employment  of  an  ingenious  valve  mechanism 


11  NOTHING  SUCCEEDS   LIKE  SUCCESS"      89 

to  cause  the  application  of  the  brake  by  the  reduction 
of  air  pressure  in  the  train-pipe  —  no  matter  whether 
the  reduction  were  made  intentionally  or  by  accident 
-  so  that  a  ruptured  hose  or  a  serious  air  leakage 
from  whatever  source  would  stop  the  train.  This 
device  was  called  a  "  triple  valve",  because  of  its 
threefold  function  of  applying  a  brake,  releasing  it, 
and  charging  its  auxiliary  reservoir.  As  a  product 
of  pure  invention  it  is  probable  that  the  automatic 
brake  system  represented  in  the  highest  degree  West- 
inghouse's  capacity  as  an  inventor. 

It  was  not  merely  in  large  matters  that  Westing- 
house  found  his  progress  impeded  by  insular  preju- 
dice during  his  early  British  campaign,  but  in  lesser 
details  as  well.  In  a  speech  he  made  in  London  in 
1903  before  a  distinguished  body  of  scientific  men, 
he  was  able  to  take  a  laughing  glance  backward  at 
these  annoyances,  time  having  vindicated  his  fore- 
sight. 

"I  came  here  first,"  said  he,  "about  thirty  years 
ago,  and  for  ten  years  I  was  here  half  my  time.  At 
that  time  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  anything  done 
in  England,  as  I  could  get  no  one  to  believe  in  any- 
thing I  proposed.  I  wanted  in  those  early  days  to 
try  an  iron  brake  shoe,  because,  on  account  of  the 
rapid  wear,  we  could  not  keep  the  wooden  shoes 
adjusted.  I  had  to  beg  and  plead  to  be  permitted 
to  put  a  set  of  metal  brake  shoes  on  one  tender  of 
the  Caledonian  Railway.  Finally  I  succeeded.  Of 
course,  you  all  know  that  nowadays  all  the  railway 
brake  shoes  or  blocks  are  made  of  cast  iron  or  other 
metal  and  are  used  upon  all  the  wheels  of  the  train." 


90  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

By  the  fall  of  1881  the  Westinghouse  automatic 
air  brake  was  in  use  on  over  3164  locomotives  and 
17,290  cars  in  various  foreign  countries,  ranging  from 
over  1087  locomotives  and  7719  cars  in  Great  Britain, 
and  1416  locomotives  and  7193  cars  in  France,  down 
to  one  locomotive  and  six  cars  in  Sweden.  In  the 
United  States,  3435  locomotives  and  12,790  cars 
were  equipped  with  it.  Of  the  fourteen  British  rail- 
ways employing  it,  the  largest  patrons  were  the 
North-Eastern,  the  London,  Brighton,  and  South 
Coast,  the  Great  Eastern,  the  North  British,  the 
Caledonian,  and  the  Glasgow  and  South- Western 
systems.  The  statistics,  here  given,  moreover,  do 
not  include  the  straight-air  brakes,  of  which  a  very 
large  number  were  still  in  use  on  railways  which  had 
bought  them  before  the  automatic  brake  came  into 
general  notice.  As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  the  cata- 
logue of  ten  years'  achievements,  Europe  was  dotted 
with  manufacturing  establishments  where  hundreds 
of  mechanics  were  busy  producing  Westinghouse 
brake  apparatus,  with  a  combined  capacity  for 
equipping  an  average  of  three  hundred  locomotives 
and  twelve  hundred  cars  every  month.  And  all 
this  had  been  evolved  from  the  brain  and  hand  of 
an  American  just  turned  thirty-five,  who,  obliged 
to  hew  his  own  way  without  the  aid  of  power- 
ful allies,  had  by  sheer  energy  and  pluck  already 
raised  himself  from  obscurity  to  eminence  and  a 
steadily  improving  bank  account. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES 

UP  to  1880  the  use  of  power  brakes  was  confined 
wholly  to  passenger  service ;  but  some  railroads 
in  the  mountainous  regions  of  the  West  had  grades 
so  steep  as  to  render  the  conduct  of  their  freight 
traffic  very  hazardous,  and  this  led  to  their  adopt- 
ing presently  a  straight-air  brake,  and  later  an  auto- 
matic brake  specially  designed  for  their  use.  At 
that  time  the  freight  trains  on  lines  west  of  the  Mis- 
souri River  were  comparatively  short,  and  there 
was  little  interchange  of  cars  between  them,  so  that 
every  road  used  the  equipment  best  suited  to  its 
needs,  practically  without  reference  to  the  equipment 
of  its  neighbors.  In  the  East,  however,  the  length 
of  the  trains  was  continually  on  the  increase,  and 
the  interchange  of  cars  was  so  general  that  the  intro- 
duction of  power  brakes  for  freight  traffic  had  not 
yet  been  attempted.  Meanwhile,  as  trains  grew 
longer  and  loads  heavier,  accidents  to  human  life, 
goods  in  transit,  and  rolling  stock  occurred  with 
more  and  more  frequency,  emphasizing  the  need  of 
some  kind  of  automatic  coupling  to  replace  the  old 
link  and  pin,  the  substitution  of  power  brakes  for 
hand  brakes,  and  the  establishment  of  a  uniform 


92  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

standard  of  mechanisms  in  both  instances,  so  that 
a  car  of  any  one  line  could  be  inserted  in  a  train  of 
any  other  and  be  operated  under  the  same  control. 
An  efficient  coupler  was  finally  developed  and 
adopted,  but  the  determination  of  a  standard  power 
brake  presented  greater  difficulties.  There  were 
several  inventions  in  the  field,  and  the  Master  Car 
Builders'  Association  decided  to  clear  the  situation 
by  designating  a  committee  to  conduct  a  series  of 
competitive  tests  between  them  at  Burlington, 
Iowa.  The  first  meet  was  fixed  for  the  spring  of 
1886,  and,  although  every  brake  manufacturer  in 
the  country  was  invited  to  take  part  with  a  train 
of  fifty  cars  fitted  with  his  own  apparatus,  this 
trial  was  to  all  intents  an  elimination  contest,  since 
only  the  automatic  air  and  the  vacuum  brakes  made 
a  showing  on  which  any  reasonable  hope  could  be 
based.  The  committee  reported  that  the  opera- 
tion of  the  automatic  air  brake  met  the  ordinary 
requirements  of  service  work,  but  that  its  action 
was  unsatisfactory  in  emergencies  because  of  the 
slow  passage  of  the  power  from  the  front  to  the 
rear  of  a  long  train.  With  the  sudden  stoppage 
from  low  speeds  of  such  a  train,  by  the  application 
of  the  brakes  with  full  force,  the  cars  at  the  front 
end  would  come  to  an  almost  instant  standstill, 
those  further  back  banging  successively  into  them 
till  the  influence  exerted  from  the  locomotive  had 
reached  the  last  car.  Animals  in  the  cattle  cars 
were  liable  to  be  wounded  or  killed  by  being  hurled 
into  heaps,  the  forward  end  of  a  heavy  car  might 
smash  the  rear  end  of  a  light  one  and  ruin  every- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES     93 

thing  fragile  carried  therein,  and  train  hands 
were  in  danger  of  being  thrown  into  the  spaces 
between  cars  and  crushed  to  death  or  permanently 
crippled. 

Another  trial  was  accordingly  set  for  the  spring 
of  the  following  year,  at  the  same  place.  Between 
the  two  trials  Westinghouse  bent  his  entire  thought 
upon  studying  out  a  means  of  increasing  the  emer- 
gency speed  of  action  of  his  brake  in  the  parts  of  the 
train  furthest  from  the  locomotive,  and  this  he 
accomplished. 

Six  competitors  took  part  in  the  fresh  test.  One 
brake  was  operated  by  electricity  alone ;  a  second 
by  compressed  air  alone ;  a  third  by  electricity 
and  a  vacuum ;  while  Westinghouse  and  one  other 
manufacturer  contributed  brakes  combining  com- 
pressed air  and  electricity.  The  electric  appliances 
used  by  Westinghouse  were  very  simple,  and  not 
required  on  every  car ;  two  or  three  of  them,  in- 
serted between  the  hose  couplings  in  various  parts 
of  a  long  train,  sufficed  to  produce  the  desired  results. 
The  arrangement  was  such  that  when  the  brakes 
were  set  electrically  the  pneumatic  application  was 
made  also,  and  in  the  event  of  an  electrical  failure 
the  train  would  still  be  stopped  pneumatically ; 
whereas  the  other  electrically-operated  brakes  had 
complicated  and  delicate  mechanisms  on  every  car, 
and  if  the  electric  operation  failed  the  engineer  lost 
control  of  the  train.  The  improvements  Westing- 
house  had  recently  made  in  the  triple  valve  conveyed 
the  braking  force  from  the  locomotive  to  the  last 
car  on  a  fifty-car  freight  train  more  than  twice  as 


94  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

quickly  as  this  had  ever  been  done  before ;  yet  the 
lapse  of  time  between  the  first  and  final  applications 
was  still  distinctly  measurable,  and  the  enhanced 
efficiency  of  the  individual  brakes  increased  rather 
than  lessened  the  shock  evil. 

In  the  trials  of  1887  an  instrument  called  a  slide- 
ometer  was  used  to  determine  the  relative  violence 
of  the  shocks  produced  by  sudden  stopping  under 
various  conditions.  It  consisted  of  a  wooden  trough, 
fourteen  feet  long  by  six  inches  wide,  made  of  clear 
white  pine  smoothly  planed.  This  was  screwed 
fast  to  the  center  of  the  rear  car,  and  in  it  would 
slide,  in  either  direction,  a  wrought  iron  disc  weigh- 
ing a  trifle  more  than  sixteen  pounds.  Crude  as 
the  device  appeared,  it  answered  its  purpose  well. 
Shocks  in  the  ordinary  handling  of  trains  with  slack 
couplings,  over  sags  or  hogbacks,  or  working  in 
yards,  would  move  the  disc  from  two  to  eight  inches ; 
twelve  inches  indicated  a  shock  sufficient  to  injure 
live  stock  and  equipment ;  while  repeated  blows 
registering  from  twelve  to  twenty  inches  would 
start  the  loads  at  the  rear  of  the  train  through  the 
ends  of  the  cars.  It  was  soon  evident  that  not  all 
the  improvement  yet  made  in  the  automatic  air 
brake  had  carried  it  past  the  danger  point,  as  the 
sudden  stoppage  of  a  train  moving  at  a  speed  of 
twenty  miles  an  hour,  under  some  conditions,  caused 
the  disc  to  slide  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty 
inches ;  only  when  electricity  was  employed  to  oper- 
ate the  air  valves  were  the  results  satisfactory. 
The  committee's  report,  therefore,  was  generally 
favorable  to  a  brake  operated  by  air,  having  valves 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES     95 

actuated  by  electricity  —  practically  a  verdict  against 
brakes  operated  by  air  alone. 

Among  the  technically  trained  observers  who 
attended  these  trials,  probably  the  only  one  who 
did  not  read  in  this  turn  of  affairs  an  end  to  the 
dominance  of  Westinghouse  in  his  special  field  was 
Westinghouse  himself.  To  a  friend  who  attempted 
to  say  something  comforting,  he  turned  a  face  which, 
though  serious,  was  entirely  cheerful. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  now?"  asked  the 
friend. 

"What  I  have  left  undone  hitherto,"  he  answered 
—  "perfect  my  air  brake." 

To  this  task  he  addressed  his  attention  with  the 
same  industry  that  had  characterized  his  previous 
undertakings.  He  felt  that  the  electric  factor  must 
be  eliminated  if  possible,  because  of  the  perils  of 
depending  upon  an  agency  so  liable  to  accident  from 
uncontrollable  conditions.  As  the  improved  triple 
valve  had  proved  that  it  was  based  on  a  correct 
principle,  he  devoted  his  first  thought  to  various 
accessories,  of  which  the  details  of  construction  in 
any  wise  influenced  the  flow  of  air  in  the  apparatus. 
The  ports  of  the  triple  valve  were  also  enlarged,  and 
this,  with  succeeding  modifications  of  kindred  na- 
ture, enabled  him,  within  three  months  after  the 
apparent  collapse  of  his  supremacy,  to  produce  the 
device  now  known  as  the  quick-acting  brake,  which 
completely  reversed  the  verdict  just  reached.  Occa- 
sional hints  would  filter  through  the  engineering 
press  that  there  would  soon  be  some  important 
news  to  record,  but  not  the  most  imaginative  writer 


96  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

would  have  ventured  a  guess  at  what  actually  hap- 
pened ;  for,  though  the  final  product  was  still  the 
Westinghouse  brake  already  known  all  over  the 
world,  it  had  been  reorganized  by  such  changes  as 
reduced  the  time  of  the  serial  action  of  the  brakes 
on  a  fifty-car  freight  train  to  a  little  more  than  two 
seconds,  and  enabled  the  locomotive  driver  to  stop 
the  train,  while  speeding  at  forty  miles  an  hour 
down  a  steep  grade,  in  less  than  half  its  own  length, 
not  only  without  a  sensible  shock,  but  with  not 
even  the  slightest  disturbance  of  the  slideometer ! 

An  illuminating  incident  occurred  during  this 
last  test  at  Burlington.  The  performance  of  elec- 
trically-operated brakes  had  been  so  brilliant  that 
the  local  atmosphere  was  highly  charged  with  elec- 
tric sentiment  as  related  to  the  brake  question.  It 
happened  that,  in  the  midst  of  the  tests,  one  of 
the  business  cars  of  the  Burlington  road,  with  sev- 
eral officers  of  the  company  aboard,  anchored  for 
a  night  on  the  trial  field.  These  gentlemen  were, 
of  course,  informed  of  the  latest  developments, 
and  when  Westinghouse  and  some  of  his  associates 
made  a  social  call  on  them,  the  conversation  naturally 
turned  on  the  subject  of  greatest  interest.  Plainly 
the  visitors  believed  that  the  days  of  the  automatic 
air  brake  were  numbered,  and  they  expressed  this 
idea  in  sympathetic  terms,  doubtless  with  a  view 
of  letting  Westinghouse  down  gently.  He,  how- 
ever, combated  the  notion  that  electricity,  with 
its  uncertainty  of  action,  could  safely  be  depended 
upon  in  a  matter  so  vital  as  the  braking  of  a  train  ; 
the  results  obtained  in  the  tests,  he  admitted,  were 


THE   BATTLE  OF  THE   BRAKES  97 

interesting  as  experiments,  but  he  regarded  the 
devices  used  as  impracticable  in  the  then  existing 
state  of  the  braking  and  electrical  arts.  He  was 
deep  in  this  phase  of  the  discussion  when  one  of 
his  hosts,  thinking  to  order  refreshments,  pushed 
an  electric  button  for  the  steward.  There  was  no 
response,  the  bell  refusing  to  ring.  Instantly  West- 
inghouse  forced  home  his  argument,  declaring  that 
the  failure  of  the  bell  illustrated  the  untrustwor- 
thiness  of  electricity  as  a  dependence  in  emergencies  ; 
if  it  could  not  be  relied  on  to  summon  a  waiter,  how 
could  we  afford  to  confide  to  it  the  braking  of  a 
heavy  train  ! l 

The  confidence  Westinghouse  had  expressed  to 
his  friend  at  the  close  of  the  public  trials  had  not 
been  mere  vaunting ;  in  the  very  hour  when  the 
shadows  of  defeat  seemed  closing  in  about  him  he 
had  seen  the  point  of  weakness  in  his  mechanism 
as  it  stood,  and  forecast  a  possible  remedy.  But 
in  spite  of  all  his  knowledge  and  his  faith,  it  was  a 

1  As  a  matter  of  record  it  should  be  said  that  the  brake  which  depended 
wholly  upon  electric  operation  of  the  air  valves,  after  a  splendid  showing 
at  Burlington,  failed  entirely  in  its  last  attempt  to  make  a  stop ;  the  acci- 
dent was  due  to  the  rupture  of  a  conducting  wire,  and  the  train  was  brought 
to  a  standstill  by  gravity.  The  circumstances  connected  with  the  elec- 
trical phase  of  the  Burlington  trials  well  exemplified  the  foresight  of  West- 
inghouse in  dealing  with  new  problems.  He  was  the  original  inventor  of 
electro-pneumatic  brakes,  and  presented  at  Burlington  a  simple  method 
of  providing  electric  actuation  of  the  air  valves ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
perfectly  realized  the  great  practical  difficulties  which  would  be  encoun- 
tered in  an  attempt  to  use  electricity  as  it  would  have  to  be  employed  in 
brake  service,  and  felt  sure  that  the  electric  art  had  not  yet  reached  a 
stage  of  development  which  would  justify  its  adoption  for  that  purpose. 
He  lived,  however,  to  witness  its  successful  application  on  subway  trains 
in  New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia,  the  most  critical  and  complex 
system  of  passenger  transportation  in  the  world. 


98  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

giant's  job  to  which  he  laid  his  hand.  The  cars 
on  which  the  trials  of  1886  and  1887  had  been  made 
were  the  property  of  his  company ;  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  arrange  with  the  Chicago,  Burlington,  and 
Quincy  Railroad  management  for  the  use  of  such 
locomotives  and  tracks  as  would  enable  him  to 
experiment  under  the  same  conditions  and  on  the 
same  ground  as  those  of  the  public  trials.  All  the 
resources  and  all  the  employees  available  he  kept 
at  work  day  and  night  without  cessation ;  the  ma- 
terials required  from  time  to  time,  in  every  instance 
covering  more  than  a  carload,  he  ordered  shipped 
from  Pittsburgh  to  Burlington  by  express  instead  of 
freight,  so  that  no  time  should  be  lost ;  and  the 
experimental  train  of  fifty  cars  had  to  be  refitted, 
from  stem  to  stern,  not  less  than  three  times  before 
he  was  satisfied  with  its  work.  But  when,  toward 
the  close  of  September,  the  hindmost  brake  on  the 
train  clutched  its  wheel  substantially  the  instant 
after  the  engineer's  movement  of  his  valve,  his 
triumph  made  up  for  all  the  trouble  he  had  under- 
gone ;  for  the  last  ground  of  criticism  against  the 
use  of  compressed  air  unaided  by  electricity  in  the 
operation  of  power  brakes  on  long  freight  trains 
was  disposed  of. 

Nor  does  the  story  end  here.  As  the  experiments 
outlined  above  had  been  wholly  unofficial,  and 
hence  could  not  be  formally  authenticated  by  the 
committee  of  the  Master  Car  Builders'  Association, 
it  was  feared  that  inaccurate  accounts  might  leak 
out  and  bias  the  judgment  of  interested  parties. 
The  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company  therefore 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES     99 

decided  to  repeat  the  Burlington  experiments  in  a 
number  of  important  railroad  centers  like  St.  Paul, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Buffalo, 
Albany,  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Wash- 
ington, and  Pittsburgh.  To  do  this  it  was  necessary 
to  run  the  entire  train  of  fifty  cars  from  point  to 
point,  requiring  two  engines  and  in  a  few  instances 
three,  and  involving  operation  under  all  the  handicaps 
incidental  to  regular  traffic.  The  fact  that  the 
train  was  nearly  a  half-mile  long  added  to  its  diffi- 
culties, as  it  had  to  be  conveyed  over  many  roads 
the  grades  of  which  limited  the  length  of  trains  to 
a  much  smaller  number  of  cars. 

One  of  the  experiments  which  demonstrated 
the  effectiveness  of  the  latest  improvements  was 
dramatically  interesting.  With  a  fifty-car  train 
at  rest,  observers  were  stationed  at  its  rear  end, 
and  at  a  prearranged  signal  the  engineer  applied 
the  brakes  on  the  locomotive  and  blew  the  whistle 
at  the  same  instant ;  and  the  sound  of  the  whistle 
and  the  noise  of  the  application  of  the  brakes  on 
the  fiftieth  car,  about  two  thousand  feet  away, 
were  practically  simultaneous,  showing  that  the 
transmission  of  power  through  the  train  was  approxi- 
mately at  the  speed  of  a  sound  wave. 

Wherever  a  demonstration  was  made,  invitations 
were  extended  to  all  local  railroad  men  and  others 
interested,  and  nearly  every  one  was  accepted. 
The  final  exhibition  was  at  Pittsburgh  in  November, 
and  was  the  concluding  act  in  a  development  of  the 
art  of  train  braking  carried  on  for  a  year  at  a  total 
expense  of  probably  not  less  than  two  hundred 


ioo  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

thousand  dollars.  The  result  obtained  at  so  heavy 
a  cost  brought  in  immediately,  however,  large  orders 
for  the  new  brakes.  The  great  trunk  lines  like  the 
New  York  Central  and  Pennsylvania  systems,  adopt- 
ing the  quick-action  brake  as  their  standard,  applied 
it  not  only  to  all  the  new  cars  they  built,  but  also 
to  their  old  cars  that  required  general  repairs. 

The  Master  Car  Builders'  Association  proceed- 
ings of  1888  included  a  report  of  its  committee  on 
freight- train  brakes  to  this  effect : 

In  our  report  to  the  Convention  last  year  the  main 
conclusion  we  arrived  at  was  that  the  best  type  of 
brake  for  freight  service  was  one  operated  by  air, 
and  in  which  the  valves  were  actuated  by  electricity. 
Since  that  time  your  committee  has  not  made  any 
further  trial  of  brakes,  but  the  aspect  of  the  ques- 
tion has  been  much  changed  by  the  remarkable 
results  achieved  in  non-official  trials  which  have 
taken  place  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and 
have  been  witnessed  by  many  of  the  members  of 
this  association.  These  trials  show  that  there  is 
now  a  brake  on  the  market  which  can  be  relied  on 
as  efficient  in  any  condition  of  freight  service.  The 
present  position  of  the  freight-train  brake  is  briefly 
as  follows : 

"  First.  Brakes  can  be,  practically  speaking, 
simultaneously  applied  without  electricity  through- 
out a  train  of  fifty  freight  cars. 

"  Second.  Other  inventors  are  working  at  the 
problem  of  making  an  air  brake  which  will  be  rapid 
in  action  and  suitable  for  service  on  freight  trains. 
We  also  understand  that  inventors  are  working 
at  buffer  and  electric  friction  brakes,  but  we  have 
no  reason  to  hope  that  brakes  upon  these  principles 
can  successfully  compete  with  air  brakes." 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES    101 

In  view  of  these  conditions,  your  committee 
does  not  recommend  the  adoption  of  any  particular 
brake,  but  considers  that  a  freight  train  brake 
should  fulfill  the  following  conditions : 

"  First.  It  shall  work  with  air  of  seventy  pounds 
pressure.  A  reduction  of  eight  pounds  shall  set 
the  brakes  lightly,  and  a  restoration  of  pressure 
shall  release  the  brakes. 

"  Second.  It  shall  work  without  shock  on  a 
train  of  fifty  cars. 

"Third.  It  shall  stop  a  train  of  fifty  empty  freight 
cars  when  running  at  twenty  miles  per  hour  within 
two  hundred  feet  on  a  level. 

"Fourth.  When  tried  on  a  train  of  fifty  cars  it 
shall  maintain  an  even  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour 
down  a  grade  of  fifty-three  feet  per  mile  without 
variation  of  more  than  five  miles  per  hour  above  or 
below  that  speed  at  any  time  during  the  descent. 

"Fifth.  The  brakes  shall  be  capable  of  being 
applied,  released,  and  graduated  on  the  whole  train 
by  the  engineer,  without  any  assistance  from  the 
brakemen  or  conductor. 

"Sixth.  The  hose  coupling  shall  couple  with  the 
present  Westinghouse  coupling." 

That  ended  what  has  been  picturesquely  styled 
"the  battle  of  the  brakes,"  for,  though  it  was  lit- 
erally true  that  the  report  contained  the  recommenda- 
tion of  no  particular  brake  by  name,  its  list  of  condi- 
tions which  the  ideal  brake  must  meet  could  be  ful- 
filled by  no  invention  except  Westinghouse's.  The 
committee  was  discharged  with  the  thanks  of  the 
Association  after  three  years  of  arduous  and  pains- 
taking investigation,  of  which  by  no  means  the 
least  important  outcome  was  an  effective  stirring 
of  the  public  conscience  on  the  subject  of  saving 


102  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  lives  and  limbs  of  trainmen.  Before  the  Bur- 
lington trials  the  subject  of  legislation  making  com- 
pulsory the  use  of  power  brakes  on  freight  trains, 
though  agitated  by  several  benevolent  persons 
and  societies,  had  received  but  scant  practical 
consideration,  probably  because  it  would  have  been 
futile  to  attempt  to  compel  the  use  of  a  device  not 
yet  invented.  Since  the  introduction  of  the  quick- 
action  brake,  however,  Congress  has  imposed  the 
use  of  power  brakes  on  all  railways  engaged  in  in- 
terstate commerce. 

It  must  not  be  assumed  that  either  his  extraordi- 
nary activity  in  building  up  his  air-brake  industry 
in  this  country,  or  his  frequent  visits  to  Europe, 
had  driven  all  other  topics  out  of  the  mind  of  young 
Westinghouse.  As  early  as  1875,  during  a  stay 
in  England,  his  curiosity  was  excited  by  some 
experiments  in  progress  there  with  devices  for  rail- 
road switching  and  signaling.  It  does  not  appear 
that  at  that  time  he  undertook  any  improvements 
on  the  apparatus  then  under  test ;  but  his  growing 
interest  in  the  subject  was  preparing  to  bear  prac- 
tical fruit  later,  for  we  find  him  looking  into  the 
state  of  the  art  in  the  United  States,  and  presently 
purchasing  enough  stock  to  give  him  control  of  the 
Interlocking  Switch  and  Signal  Company  of  Harris- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  which  owned  a  number  of 
highly  important  patents  on  switching  devices  such 
as  are  used  in  steering  a  multitude  of  trains  into 
and  out  of  a  great  terminal  station  without  confu- 
sion. His  next  move  was  to  turn  over  his  control 
of  the  company,  together  with  a  similar  control 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BRAKES    103 

he  had  acquired  in  the  management  of  a  Massachu- 
setts company  manufacturing  electric  signal  appa- 
ratus, to  a  corporation  styled  the  Union  Switch 
and  Signal  Company,  originally  chartered  in  Con- 
necticut but  later  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Massa- 
chusetts member  of  the  combination,  it  may  be 
remarked  in  passing,  was  the  first  to  employ  the 
method  of  controlling  signals  by  using  the  rails  as 
electric  conductors  on  the  closed  circuit  principle  - 
probably  the  most  important  single  contribution 
to  the  art  of  signaling. 

Meanwhile  the  busy  mind  of  Westinghouse  had 
been  working  out  sundry  details  which  took  pal- 
pable form  in  a  series  of  patents  covering  hydro- 
pneumatic  and  electro-pneumatic  signaling  —  obvi- 
ously the  outgrowth  of  the  familiarity  gained  with 
the  properties  and  potentialities  of  compressed  air 
during  his  long  study  of  his  braking  problems. 
The  first  of  these  was  issued  on  February  I,  1881, 
and  between  then  and  1891  there  were  fifteen  issues 
in  his  name.  He  also  was  a  liberal  buyer  of  other 
men's  patents  which  in  his  judgment  possessed 
essential  merit.  His  first  experimental  mechanisms 
seem  to  have  been  hydro-pneumatic,  but  soon  these 
were  discarded  in  favor  of  electro-pneumatic  devices, 
which  have  been  tersely  described  by  a  distinguished 
engineer  as  "  using  compressed  air  for  the  heavy 
work,  and  electricity  to  pull  the  trigger. " 

A  block  system  of  safety  signals  was  by  no  means 
a  new  idea  at  the  time  Westinghouse  entered  the 
field.  Leading  railways  had  for  many  years  been 
dividing  their  trackage  into  sections  or  blocks  from 


104  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE  , 

a  half-mile  to  four  miles  in  length,  and  establishing 
at  every  junction  of  two  blocks  a  signal  station  with 
a  man  in  charge.  This  man  would  set  a  danger 
signal  against  coming  trains  until  the  man  at  the 
station  next  ahead  telegraphed  him  that  the  track 
between  them  was  clear  of  trains ;  then  he  would 
set  an  "all  right"  signal,  and  engineers  were  for- 
bidden to  pass  from  one  block  to  another  till  this 
signal  appeared.  The  arrangement  was  admirable 
as  far  as  it  went ;  but,  as  is  always  the  case  where 
mechanisms  require  human '  intelligence  and  mus- 
cular effort  to  manage  them,  it  involved  a  margin 
of  uncertainty.  A  watchman  on  night  duty  might 
drop  asleep,  or  one  on  day  duty  might  be  suddenly 
overcome  with  illness,  or  any  of  a  dozen  conceivable 
mishaps  might  break  the  human  link  in  the  chain 
of  operation  and  open  the  way  for  disaster.  It  was 
therefore  deemed  desirable  to  substitute  automatic 
for  human  energy  wherever  practicable.  In  the 
electro-pneumatic  system,  as  developed  since  West- 
inghouse  entered  the  field,  electricity  has  been 
made  to  do  the  watching  and  compressed  air  the 
signaling. 

The  chief  and  fundamental  advantage  of  the  auto- 
matic electric  system  over  that  into  which  a  human 
agency  must  enter,  is  that,  if  a  switch  is  turned  or 
a  rail  broken,  the  continuity  of  the  rails  on  that 
block,  which  carry  the  electric  current  that  operates 
the  signals,  is  broken,  and  the  danger  signal  is  set 
automatically.  Many  other  ingenious  devices  have 
been  put  forth  by  this  company,  with  the  same 
electro-pneumatic  cooperation  for  a  basis,  including 


THE   BATTLE  OF  THE   BRAKES          105 

one  that  automatically  sets  the  brakes   if   a   train 
passes  a  danger  signal  unheeded. 

In  the  department  of  railroading  we  have  just 
been  considering,  not  less  than  in  that  to  which  he 
first  addressed  himself,  the  paramount  object  West- 
inghouse  always  held  in  view  was  to  obtain  the 
utmost  utility  in  service  compatible  with  the  mini- 
mum peril  to  life  and  limb. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH 

THE  winter  of  1883-1884  was  passed  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Westinghouse  in  New  York  City,  where, 
early  in  the  new  year,  a  great  happiness  came  to 
them  with  the  birth  of  a  son.  It  had  been  their 
desire  to  return  to  Pittsburgh  as  soon  thereafter 
as  would  be  prudent  for  mother  and  child,  and  with 
the  coming  of  spring  the  family  moved  back. 

In  the  home  newspapers  which  had  reached  Mr. 
Westinghouse  in  New  York  had  appeared  so  many 
references  to  the  development  of  natural  gas  in 
Murrysville,  a  suburb  of  Pittsburgh,  that  his  at- 
tention was  strongly  drawn  to  this  subject.  It 
had  been  known  for  all  of  fifty  years  that  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  Allegheny  County,  Pennsylvania,  gas 
was  to  be  had  for  the  boring ;  still,  no  scientific 
estimates  had  been  made  of  its  abundance,  and 
only  a  few  manufacturers  had  seriously  attempted 
to  harness  it  for  industrial  purposes.  As  is  so  often 
the  case  with  a  product  which  has  been  evolved 
as  one  of  the  incidentals  to  a  familiar  operation, 
this  gas  was  regarded  as  an  interesting  but  not 
very  valuable  by-product  of  oil  development,  and 
those  persons  who  did  anything  at  all  with  it  treated 


OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH     107 

it  more  or  less  like  a  toy.  But  a  balance  had  re- 
cently been  struck  in  some  experiments  made  at 
one  large  factory,  the  figures  of  which  had  caught 
the  eye  of  Mr.  Westinghouse  and  held  it  by  their 
showing  that  in  this  plant  the  work  performed  by 
gas,  besides  being  as  satisfactory  as  that  of  any 
other  fuel  that  had  been  tried,  had  effected  a  sav- 
ing of  a  good  many  thousand  dollars  in  a  single 
year.  If  this  were  possible  on  a  small  scale,  he 
asked  himself,  what  might  not  be  accomplished  for 
the  public  profit  and  convenience  if  such  a  fuel 
could  be  made  universally  available  ? 

As  the  train  drew  them  nearer  home,  he  opened 
the  subject  in  conversation  with  his  wife. 

"You'd  soon  get  as  much  absorbed  in  natural 
gas  as  you  used  to  be  in  brakes  when  we  first 
married/'  she  answered  in  a  jesting  way;  "but 
the  brakes  had  one  advantage  over  gas  —  you  could 
always  work  out  your  problems  at  home,  instead 
of  running  off  to  Murrysville  every  day." 

"I  can  work  out  my  problems  at  home  just  the 
same,"  he  laughed  in  response;  "that  is,  if  you 
don't  mind  my  boring  a  well  through  your  flower 
beds.  But  don't  charge  me  too  much  for  the  privi- 
lege. I  dare  say  it  will  cost  me  five  thousand  dol- 
lars just  to  sink  the  hole  and  pipe  it." 

To  the  friends  who  heard  gossipy  echoes  of  this 
conversation,  it  seemed  merely  an  exchange  of 
harmless  pleasantries;  but  those  who  passed  the 
premises  soon  afterward  realized  that  there  had 
been  something  more  than  fun  behind  it.  For 
there,  not  in  the  flower  garden  to  be  sure  but  back 


io8  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

by  the  stable,  stood  the  tangible  evidences  of  an 
intention  to  probe  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  a 
gang  of  men  were  already  at  work  taking  away 
the  cut  sod  and  stacking  close  at  hand  the  neces- 
sary piping. 

Day  after  day  the  chug-chug  of  the  engine  and 
the  muffled  stroke  of  the  drill  as  it  buried  itself 
deeper  and  deeper  in  the  earth  kept  the  air  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Westinghouse  place  vibrating, 
and  furnished  a  text  for  a  running  fire  of  comment 
from  the  neighbors,  some  of  it  technically  critical 
or  inquisitive,  some  skeptical  or  semi-satirical.  As 
a  rule  the  people  of  Pittsburgh  had  already  learned 
better  than  to  question  too  boldly  the  probabilities 
of  any  large  enterprise  into  which  George  Westing- 
house  went  with  a  show  of  confidence,  but  a  good 
many  still  were  of  open  mind  as  to  the  practical 
value  of  such  operations  as  he  was  conducting  on 
his  private  grounds.  An  occasional  glimpse  could 
be  caught  of  him  at  night,  clad  in  overalls  and 
standing  near  the  men,  watching  every  new  develop- 
ment with  the  keenest  concern ;  now  giving  an 
order,  now  consulting  with  the  gang-boss,  but  never 
taking  his  eyes  or  his  mind  off  whatever  was  in 
progress  as  long  as  he  remained  close  at  hand. 

Nearly  three  weeks  had  been  expended  on  the 
work,  and  a  few  of  the  ultra-wise  heads  had  been 
shaken  in  doubt,  when  the  foreman  in  charge  one 
evening  reported  that  he  had  detected  traces  of 
gas. 

"How  far  down  are  you  now?"  asked  Mr.  West- 
inghouse. 


OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH     109 

"  About  1 560  feet." 

"Are  the  signs  of  gas  strong?" 

"No,  sir,  weak;  but  I'm  perfectly  sure  that  a 
good  supply  is  there,  or  not  far  away." 

"The  only  way  to  find  out  is  to  go  on.  Perhaps 
by  tomorrow  we  shall  get  results  that  amount  to 
something.  Only,  go  slow --feel  your  way  along. 
Be  very  careful  of  the  men,  and  warn  them  to  take 
no  risks." 

That  night  Mr.  Westinghouse  went  to  bed  late, 
fell  into  his  usual  sound  sleep,  and  did  not  even 
dream  of  his  gas  well  till,  just  before  sunrise,  he 
was  roused  with  such  suddenness  that  he  sat  bolt 
upright  in  an  instant,  wide-awake  and  staring 
around  him.  He  was  dimly  conscious  that  what 
had  startled  him  must  have  been  an  explosion  of 
some  sort;  and --was  that  a  continuing  roar,  or 
an  echo  from  a  former  volume  of  sound  which  was 
still  rumbling  in  his  ears  ? 

He  was  out  of  bed  in  a  flash,  and  a  few  minutes 
later  in  the  open  air,  not  far  from  the  spot  where 
he  had  been  talking  with  the  foreman  the  night 
before.  But  what  a  change  had  come  over  the  scene  ! 
All  about  him  and  for  many  yards  around,  the  lawn 
looked  like  a  ragged  seabeach  after  a  storm.  Gravel, 
sand,  mud,  dirty  water,  were  everywhere,  blanket- 
ing the  once  trim  sward  and  well-kept  paths  under 
an  indescribable  mass  of  filth.  The  big,  burly 
derrick  that  stood  over  the  well  opening  had  evi- 
dently received  a  severe  blow,  and  a  part  of  the 
pulley  tackle  at  its  top  was  gone.  The  drilling  appa- 
ratus was  nowhere  to  be  seen  at  the  moment,  being 


i  io  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

hidden  beneath  debris.  The  engine  had  been  tossed 
aside  like  a  squeezed  orange,  and  lay  some  distance 
away,  looking  as  if  it  had  been  rolled  over  and  over 
in  reaching  its  final  resting  place. 

All  these  things  he  could  make  out  only  dimly. 
There  was  a  hint  in  the  east  of  the  approaching 
dawn,  and  by  holding  his  watch  close  to  his  eyes 
he  could  discern  that  it  was  about  twenty  minutes 
after  three.  Out  of  the  mouth  of  the  well  a  muddy 
geyser  was  still  spouting  into  the  air,  with  a  loud 
noise  that  was  between  a  hurricane  roar  and  an 
angry  volcanic  rumble. 

After  the  first  effect  of  what  he  was  witnessing 
had  lost  its  vividness,  he  swept  his  surroundings 
with  his  glance,  wondering  at  the  absence  of  the 
men  he  had  left  there  when  he  went  to  bed.  A 
little  later  they  emerged  from  the  shadows  one  by 
one,  like  ghosts  returning  to  a  world  from  which 
they  had  been  suddenly  banished.  Strangers  came, 
too  —  persons  who,  within  a  mile  radius,  had  been 
sleeping  as  calmly  as  he  till  roused  by  the  explosion 
and  set  quaking  with  a  nameless  dread. 

Item  by  item,  in  broken  bits  of  explanation  and 
conversation,  the  facts  came  out.  Acting  on  his 
suggestion,  the  foreman  had  cautioned  the  work- 
men to  proceed  slowly  and  with  care,  and  the  drill- 
ing had  gone  on  with  such  deliberateness  that  only 
a  matter  of  fifteen  feet  had  been  accomplished  before 
a  savage  growl  issuing  from  the  hole  caused  them  to 
drop  everything  and  run  for  their  lives.  They  were 
not  a  minute  too  soon.  Behind  them  as  they  fled 
for  cover  rose  a  great  boom  and  roar,  and  then 


OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH     in 

a  shower  of  water,  mud,  and  gravel  which  the  light 
breeze  spread  about.  Nobody  had  waited  to  see 
what  more  was  coming,  and  the  next  thing  they 
noted  was  the  appearance  of  the  master  of  the  estab- 
lishment on  the  scene. 

The  first  expression  of  Mrs.  Westinghouse  as  she 
looked  out  upon  the  spectacle  of  devastation  a  few 
minutes  later  was  one  of  comic  dismay.  Her  hus- 
band smiled  inquiringly  as  her  eyes  met  his. 

"  All  things  considered,"  said  he,  "are  you  satisfied 
with  the  experiment?" 

"Oh,  very  well,"  she  answered  cheerfully.  "The 
house  still  has  a  roof  on  it,  and  the  kitchen  isn't 
wrecked." 

Breakfast  was  not  much  of  a  meal  that  morning : 
both  husband  and  wife  were  too  absorbed  with  the 
newest  phenomenon. 

The  day  was  given  up  to  devising  ways  and  means 
for  clearing  away  the  rubbish.  This  had  to  be 
done  at  a  disadvantage,  because  nobody  about  the 
premises,  including  the  drill-gang,  could  feel  positive 
as  to  what  was  coming  next.  The  men  had  drilled 
a  good  many  wells,  first  and  last,  but  not  one  with 
the  startling  results  of  this  performance. 

Meanwhile  the  fountain  of  water  and  sand  had 
subsided,  and  been  succeeded  by  a  stream  of  pure 
gas,  which  after  a  little  lost  its  terrors  as  a  novelty 
and  provoked  the  spectators  to  various  experiments. 
One  man  brought  a  chunk  of  coal  weighing  seven 
or  eight  pounds,  and  swinging  it  back  and  forth  to 
get  a  tentative  measure  of  distance,  tossed  it  so  that, 
if  not  intercepted,  it  would  strike  the  exposed  top 


112  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

of  the  piping.  It  went  straight  as  directed,  but, 
instead  of  alighting  on  the  aperture,  it  was  caught 
by  the  ascending  jet  of  gas  and  lifted  into  the  air 
like  a  chip  in  a  gale,  striking  one  of  the  beams  of 
the  derrick  with  great  force  and  being  smashed  to 
pieces.  Another  adventurer,  with  the  aid  of  a  friend, 
dragged  a  heavy  spruce  plank  to  where  they  could 
push  it  crosswise  over  the  opening.  The  stream 
of  gas  treated  it  as  if  it  had  been  a  strip  of  lath, 
breaking  it  in  twain  and  entirely  splintering  a  frag- 
ment that  fell  back  so  as  partly  to  overhang  the  hole. 
Then  somebody  suggested  that  the  derrick  might 
be  brought  into  play  again  to  lower  a  big  weight 
directly  into  the  mouth  of  the  well.  A  rope  was 
attached  to  the  upper  rigging,  and  its  loose  end 
made  fast  to  a  stone  that  weighed  perhaps  a  hundred 
pounds,  and  this  was  swung  around  so  as  to  over- 
hang the  hole.  The  gas  played  with  the  intruder 
like  a  straw,  shaking  the  weight  free,  and  then  lift- 
ing the  loose  rope  into  the  air  and  holding  it  upright 
there,  as  straight  and  stiff  as  a  flagstaff. 

For  nearly  a  week  thereafter  there  was  little 
sleep  in  the  neighborhood,  the  well  continuing  to 
roar  unceasingly  night  and  day.  But  the  resource- 
ful mind  of  the  inventor  had  been  at  work,  and 
out  of  its  cogitations  emerged  finally  a  stopcock 
which  was  a  triumph  of  indirection  in  application 
and  operation.  By  degrees  the  force  of  the  flow 
was  abated  till  it  was  shut  off  altogether,  and  the 
normal  slumbers  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of 
the  town  were  resumed  not  to  be  broken  again  for 
several  nights.  Then  came  some  experiments  in 


OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH     113 

the  evenings  to  test  the  illuminating  quality  of  the 
gas.  A  pipe  about  sixty  feet  high  had  been  built 
up  from  the  mouth  of  the  well,  with  a  pulley  fastened 
to  its  top,  carrying  a  wire  rope,  the  extremities  of 
which  dangled  on  the  ground.  To  one  of  these 
extremities  was  attached  a  bundle  of  rags  saturated 
with  oil. 

When  all  was  ready,  at  a  given  signal  the  stopcock 
was  turned  so  as  to  let  the  gas  into  the  overhead 
pipe,  and  at  the  same  time  a  match  was  applied  to 
the  rags  and  workmen  began  pulling  on  the  free 
end  of  the  rope.  The  burning  torch  ascended  slowly 
till  it  reached  almost  the  top  of  the  rigging.  Then 
a  sudden  strong  pull  finished  its  ascent,  and  a 
faint  bluish  flame  was  observed  surrounding  the  rim 
of  the  pipe.  The  next  instant,  like  a  lightning 
flash  connecting  heaven  and  earth,  a  pillar  of  fire 
shot  a  hundred  feet  upward  into  the  sky  and  was 
followed  by  a  steady  fountain  of  flame  that  was  a 
marvelous  study  in  colors.  At  its  base  was  a  jet 
of  blue,  brightening  into  pale  yellow  as  it  ascended, 
then  becoming  a  dazzling  white,  and  expanding  like 
a  tubular  fan,  the  outer  edges  passing  through  vari- 
ous shades  of  yellow  and  orange  into  a  sort  of  Indian 
red.  The  gas  lamps  of  the  city  dwindled  to  little 
points  of  light,  and  persons  in  the  street  not  less  than 
a  mile  away  were  able  to  read  distinctly  the  finest 
newspaper  print  by  the  light  of  the  gigantic  natural 
flambeau  on  the  heights  of  ''Solitude.'* 

Unhappily  the  roaring  noise  which  had  so  dis- 
turbed the  repose  of  the  neighbors  at  the  outset 
was  resumed  while  the  gas  was  burning.  It  was 


114  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

not  so  bad  as  at  first,  but  it  was  a  serious  enough 
nuisance  to  demand  moderating.  So,  after  the 
experiments  had  been  repeated,  with  variations 
of  detail,  till  the  possibilities  of  the  illuminant  had 
been  pretty  well  canvassed,  the  evening  performances 
ceased,  and  Mr.  Westinghouse  announced  that  he 
was  perfecting  plans  to  connect  his  well  with  a  sys- 
tem of  city  mains  and  dispense  light  and  heat,  and 
incidentally  power,  over  a  considerable  area.  The 
gas,  he  was  satisfied,  was  of  a  quality  markedly 
superior  to  anything  produced  by  artificial  processes, 
yet  capable  of  being  sold  at  a  low  price  with  a  good 
profit.  One  of  the  large  manufacturing  concerns 
in  Pittsburgh  which  was  already  using*  natural  gas 
with  fine  effect  was  compelled  to  bring  every  foot 
of  its  supply  from  Murrysville,  twenty  miles  away, 
at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year,  and  in  a  single  ward  a  local  company 
was  collecting  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year  in  gas  bills.  In  yet  other  ways  the  Westing- 
house  discovery  promised  to  work  wonders  for 
Pittsburgh ;  in  none  more  potent  than  in  changing 
a  notoriously  dirty  city  into  a  clean  one. 

But  along  with  the  bright  prospects  of  the  new 
enterprise  came  some  decided  drawbacks  to  be  reck- 
oned with.  One  of  these  was  the  exaggerated 
spontaneity  of  the  supply,  making  it  difficult  to 
pinion  it  down  to  the  work  required  of  it.  Gas 
artificially  produced  could  of  course  be  artificially 
regulated  as  well,  but  nature  was  a  less  compliant 
servant.  The  pressure  she  furnished  was  not  meas- 
ured by  the  immediate  needs  of  the  consumer  or 


OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH     115 

the  peculiar  exigencies  of  a  situation :  it  came  al- 
ways and  everywhere  with  unrestrained  force,  and 
the  problem  now  before  Westinghouse  was  how  to 
make  it  obedient  to  the  will  of  its  employer.  This 
demand  was  emphasized  by  the  appearance  in  the 
newspapers,  almost  daily,  of  accounts  of  explosions 
or  other  accidents  due  to  ill-regulated  pressure,  or 
popular  ignorance  of  the  best  way  of  managing  the 
unfamiliar  fluid.  Being  invisible  and  almost  odor- 
less, it  was  always  a  menace,  and  its  tremendous 
pressure  forced  it  through  every  minute  crevice, 
where,  even  if  it  were  escaping  from  a  carefully 
sunken  main,  it  was  liable  to  find  its  way  through 
the  softer  spots  in  the  soil.  An  accident  resulting 
from  this  cause,  which  excited  a  great  commotion 
in  Pittsburgh  and  set  everybody  talking  of  the 
perils  one  must  face  in  using  natural  gas,  occurred 
in  one  of  the  large  stables  where  a  hostler  struck 
a  match  one  evening  to  light  his  lantern.  A  terrific 
explosion  followed.  The  man  was  blown  thirty 
feet  through  the  air,  a  valuable  horse  was  instantly 
killed,  and  the  building  was  set  afire  and  wrecked. 
It  was  then  recalled  that  the  stable  stood  on  made 
ground ;  and  as  this  was  the  case  with  most  of  the 
mills  along  the  river  front,  there  was,  for  a  while, 
something  like  a  suppressed  panic  in  local  manu- 
facturing circles. 

The  underwriting  companies,  too,  took  a  hand  in 
the  discussion,  threatening  to  raise  their  rates  to 
what  would  have  been  substantially  prohibitory 
figures,  unless  changes  were  made  in  the  method  of 
transporting  so  dangerous  an  explosive.  Some  went 


ii6  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

to  the  length  of  actually  serving  notice  of  the  can- 
cellation of  certain  outstanding  contracts  at  a  given 
future  date.  The  first  thing  Westinghouse  did, 
therefore,  after  arranging  for  the  organization  of 
a  company  for  the  distribution  and  sale  of  the  gas 
from  his  well,  was  to  invent  a  system  of  transporta- 
tion. His  initial  improvement  was  to  use  two  pipes, 
one  inside  of  the  other.  The  inner  pipe  received 
the  gas  from  the  original  source,  and  carried  it  to 
the  entrances  of  the  manufacturing  establishments, 
where  its  pressure  remained  nearly  as  at  the  well. 
On  the  way,  however,  it  was  subject  to  constant 
leakage,  the  pressure  forcing  infinitesimal  jets  through 
the  interstices  in  the  joints  of  the  pipe.  But  this 
leakage,  instead  of  passing  into  the  earth,  and  so 
on  to  cellars  or  other  confined  places  where  it  was 
dangerous,  was  caught  in  the  outer  pipe  and  then 
permitted  to  escape  to  the  atmosphere  at  a  point 
of  safety.  In  later  practice  the  joints  of  the  convey- 
ing pipe  only  were  inclosed  with  a  protecting  cover, 
which  was  equivalent  to  the  double  pipe  and  greatly 
reduced  the  cost  as  compared  with  using  two  com- 
plete lines  of  piping.  Westinghouse  also,  in  order 
to  reduce  the  cost  of  piping  and  dangers  from  undue 
pressure,  and  make  the  ultimate  product  more 
amenable  to  control  for  industrial  purposes,  arranged 
a  system  of  pipes  of  graded  capacities,  so  that  the 
smallest  took  the  gas  directly  from  the  well  and  the 
larger  ones  allowed  it  an  opportunity  for  expansion 
till,  by  the  time  it  was  furnished  to  the  consumer, 
it  was  as  easy  to  manage  as  gas  produced  from  coal 
by  the  ordinary  process. 


OPENING  A  MINE  OF  GASEOUS  WEALTH     117 

One  of  the  details  he  had  to  work  out  gave  West- 
inghouse  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  and  not  a  few  of 
his  friends  predicted  that  he  would  never  be  able 
to  devise  a  satisfactory  apparatus.  Their  skepticism 
merely  stimulated  him  to  fresh  effort,  which  ulti- 
mately led  to  the  production  of  a  mechanism  chiefly 
employed  for  domestic  purposes  and  so  arranged  as 
to  prevent  a  class  of  explosive  accidents  that  had 
resulted  in  several  fatalities. 

For  unavoidable  reasons,  the  supply  of  gas  was 
not  infrequently  interrupted  without  notice  to  users, 
and  in  such  instances  the  fires  would  go  out.  When 
the  gas  was  again  turned  on  in  the  mains,  if  the 
outlets  had  not  been  closed,  there  would  be  an  escape 
of  gas  which  often,  on  account  of  its  lack  of  odor, 
was  not  noticed  until  an  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
light the  fire.  If  there  was  an  accumulation  of  gas, 
as  was  commonly  the  case,  disastrous  results  would 
follow,  and  it  became  increasingly  evident  that  some 
precaution  was  necessary,  more  effective  than  a 
mere  admonition  to  the  users  to  exercise  great  care. 
The  problem  was  solved  by  the  invention  of  a  cut-off 
valve  device,  located  in  the  supply  pipe  where  gas 
was  taken  from  the  street  mains  into  the  building, 
and  so  organized  that  if,  for  any  reason,  gas  was  shut 
off  from  the  mains,  the  valve  automatically  closed 
and  could  not  be  opened  again  until  all  the  connec- 
tions in  the  building  had  been  cut  off. 

The  many  advantages  of  gas  for  fuel  purposes, 
as  demonstrated  on  a  vast  scale  in  the  natural  gas 
development  in  Pittsburgh,  at  once  awakened  in 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Westinghouse  great  interest  in  the 


ii8  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

problem  of  the  production  of  an  artificial  fuel  gas 
that  could  be  made  available  for  localities  removed 
from  the  natural  gas  fields.  In  cooperation  with 
noted  gas  engineers  he  undertook  a  series  of  experi- 
ments extending  over  many  years  and  involving 
large  expenditures,  hoping  that  a  process  for  manu- 
facturing gas  might  be  developed  that  would  make 
its  general  use  for  fuel  purposes  commercial.  The 
net  result  of  his  investigations,  though  not  ma- 
terially advancing  the  art,  led  incidentally  to  the 
development  of  a  producer  for  making  gas  from 
bituminous  coal,  that  was  a  marked  improvement 
upon  similar  devices  then  on  the  market.  Its  manu- 
facture is  still  successfully  continued. 


CHAPTER   IX 
WHAT  THE  GAS  DID  FOR  PITTSBURGH 

THE  difficulties  of  the  situation  were  not  confined 
to  the  solution  of  the  problems  already  described. 
In  order  to  carry  gas  from  his  well  to  the  consumers, 
it  was  necessary  for  Westinghouse  to  obtain  per- 
mission from  the  city  authorities  to  lay  pipes  under 
the  streets,  and  this  meant  tearing  up  pavements 
and  more  or  less  other  disturbance  of  the  routine 
of  traffic.  At  once  arose  a  commotion.  Certain 
local  dispensers  of  illuminating  gas  saw  a  peril  to 
their  business  in  the  threatened  invasion  of  the  field 
by  this  "amateur",  as  they  styled  him,  and  their 
friends  in  the  municipal  Councils  and  on  the  press 
were  encouraged  to  throw  all  sorts  of  obstacles  into 
his  way.  He  took  pains  at  the  outset  to  make  it 
plain  that  he  had  no  intentidn  of  asking  a  conces- 
sion from  the  city  without  giving  something  in  re- 
turn, and  his  first  application  embraced  an  offer, 
if  allowed  to  lay  his  pipes  as  indicated,  to  furnish 
the  fire-engine  houses  and  police  stations  with  gas 
free  of  cost. 

He  was  careful  also  to  declare  that  he  had  no 
ambition  to  hold  the  sole  control  of  the  commodity, 
to  make  exorbitant  profits,  or  to  dictate  arbitrary 


120  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

terms  to  any  manufacturing  interest,  but  would 
prefer  a  cooperative  arrangement,  whereby  the 
business  concerns  that  were  likely  to  derive  most 
advantage  from  the  use  of  the  gas  should  go  in  with 
him  and  share  the  advantages  of  his  enterprise. 
"What  I  am  seeking  now,"  he  said,  "is  to  distribute 
the  benefits  of  this  discovery,  receiving  merely  a 
fair  compensation  for  my  property -- nothing 


more." 


The  first  objection  raised  was  that  to  grant  to 
one  person  or  company  a  privilege  which  was  not 
thrown  open  on  similar  terms  to  whoever  desired 
it  would  lead  to  all  sorts  of  abuses,  for  the  only  way 
in  which  such  a  grant  could  be  kept  from  putting 
the  whole  community  under  the  yoke  of  a  monopoly 
was  to  give  to  every  applicant  a  permit  to  rip  the 
highway  to  pieces,  and  for  eminently  practical 
reasons  that  seemed  out  of  the  question.  A  struggle 
of  several  weeks  in  the  Councils  ensued,  the  bone  of 
contention  being  an  ordinance  so  drawn,  with  the 
approval  of  Mr.  Westinghouse,  as  to  hinge  his  grant 
on  the  condition  that  he  would  undertake  to  convey 
the  gas  of  any  other  producer  through  his  pipes  up 
to  their  capacity,  the  charge  for  such  service  to  be 
arranged  between  him  and  his  customers,  and  any 
disagreement  referred  to  a  trio  of  arbitrators.  With 
every  fresh  outburst  of  opposition  the  reporters 
would  run  to  him  for  an  interview,  evidently  hoping 
to  draw  forth  something  in  the  way  of  a  sensational 
denunciation ;  but  he  remained  perfectly  equable 
in  mind  and  temper. 

The  old  apprehensions  excited  by  the  explosive 


WHAT  THE  GAS   DID   FOR  PITTSBURGH      121 

quality  of  the  gas  were  revived  from  time  to  time 
by  some  casualty,  of  which  the  hostile  combination 
could  always  be  trusted  to  make  the  most  strenuous 
use.  One  such  occurred  at  "Solitude"  which  would 
have  given  his  opponents  a  fine  weapon  if  they  had 
not  fallen  into  the  blunder  of  gross  exaggeration 
in  their  first  accounts  of  it  and  thus  invited  an  anti- 
climax in  its  popular  effect.  Two  workmen  employed 
to  remove  the  outer  pipe  or  casing  at  the  mouth  of 
the  pioneer  well  and  substitute  another  encountered 
a  refractory  joint,  and  ran  a  steel  drill  down  beside 
it  to  loosen  it.  As  nearly  as  they  could  remember 
the  details  later,  they  kept  the  drill  wet  all  the  time ; 
but  the  impact  of  the  metals  apparently  produced 
a  spark  which  ignited  a  jet  of  escaping  gas,  and  in 
an  instant  they  were  in  the  midst  of  a  sheet  of  flame 
and  almost  suffocated.  The  blaze  burned  their 
eyes,  faces,  necks,  shoulders  and  hands.  With  a 
cry  they  staggered  back  and  threw  themselves  into 
a  bed  of  long  grass,  while  other  men  working  near 
by  rushed  to  their  assistance.  An  alarm  was  sent 
to  the  nearest  engine  houses,  and  two  hose  compa- 
nies were  presently  on  the  spot  and  playing  streams 
upon  the  combustibles  about  the  well,  and,  with 
the  aid  of  a  length  of  pipe  and  some  wet  blankets, 
the  fire  was  suppressed.  The  speed  with  which 
everything  was  done  doubtless  saved  the  day ;  but 
it  did  not  prevent  the  wide  circulation  of  a  rumor 
that  some  laborers  had  been  killed  by  gas  on  the 
Westinghouse  place,  and  within  an  hour  the  yard 
was  swarming  with  citizens  and  newspaper  emis- 
saries. Instead  of  the  tragedy  for  which  they  were 


122  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

looking,  they  found  Mrs.  Westinghouse  taking  care 
of  two  badly  scorched  workmen,  for  whom  she  had 
summoned  her  family  physician.  And  thus  an 
episode  which  the  opposition  at  first  counted  upon 
to  stir  up  public  sentiment  against  further  encour- 
agement to  the  natural  gas  industry  in  Pittsburgh 
came  to  naught. 

In  due  course,  the  Councils  passed  the  desired 
ordinance,  substantially  as  at  first  proposed.  Mean- 
while Mr.  Westinghouse  had  organized  a  number  of 
small  companies,  designed  to  divide  between  them 
the  territory  in  which  they  should  be  the  first  comers 
in  the  field.  There  were  not  lacking,  in  the  well 
on  the  "Solitude"  estate,  certain  disquieting  symp- 
toms, which  he  interpreted  to  mean  that  he  could 
not  afford  to  rely  upon  that  alone  for  his  supply 
if  he  were  going  into  the  gas  business  on  the  scale 
he  had  in  mind ;  so  he  drilled  two  or  three  more 
wells  on  his  own  premises  and  bought  easements  on 
many  other  pieces  of  property  in  the  Murrysville 
district  and  elsewhere,  and  it  was  for  handling  these 
and  making  them  tributary  to  the  central  concern 
that  he  organized  his  group  of  lesser  companies. 

But  how  was  he  to  acquire  the  powers  necessary 
to  a  corporation  of  the  magnitude  he  wished  to  build 
up?  It  would  have  to  procure  rights  of  way  by 
either  purchase  or  condemnation  before  it  could 
lay  its  pipes  across  private  property  anywhere. 
Besides  that  it  must  find,  in  Pittsburgh  proper, 
some  means  of  getting  around  an  obstacle.  The 
Fuel  Gas  Company,  the  head  and  soul  of  the  opposi- 
tion, had  organized  under  an  old  law  of  Pennsyl- 


WHAT  THE  GAS   DID   FOR   PITTSBURGH      123 

vania  which  conferred  upon  the  public  utility  cor- 
poration of  this  character  that  was  first  to  enter 
any  given  municipality  a  monopoly  of  its  business 
there.  Soon  after  the  enactment  of  this  statute 
there  had  been  a  tremendous  activity  in  the  creation 
of  corporations,  but  a  multitude  of  these  mushroom 
affairs  had  since  collapsed  under  the  withering  effect 
of  a  statute  which  conserved  the  life  only  of  those 
that  had  been  regularly  organized  to  do  business 
before  its  passage.  John  Dalzell,  then  engaged 
in  the  private  practice  of  law  in  Pittsburgh  and  later 
a  member  of  Congress,  was  Mr.  Westinghouse's 
attorney,  and  to  him  Mr.  Westinghouse  turned  in 
this  emergency.  Mr.  Dalzell  recalled  the  fact  that 
several  companies  had  taken  out  charters  and  gone 
into  business  under  the  old  system,  had  bridged 
over  the  gap  between  the  old  and  the  new,  and  later 
had  ceased  to  be  active.  As  the  capital  of  the 
State  was  the  place  where  the  records  covering  such 
matters  were  most  likely  to  be -available,  he  hastened 
to  Harrisburg,  where  he  laid  the  matter  before  an 
old  professional  friend  who  promptly  announced : 
"I  can  put  my  hand  upon  the  very  thing  you  wish. 
Tom  Scott  procured  from  the  legislature  years 
ago  a  special  charter  for  a  corporation  called  the 
Philadelphia  Company.  He  wanted  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  building  a  branch  railroad  tributary  to  the 
Pennsylvania  system,  but  never  used  it,  and  in 
time  it  passed  into  other  hands.  This  charter  was 
so  drawn  that  under  it  you  can  do  almost  anything 
you  care  to  except  engage  in  the  business  of  bank- 
ing. You  can  run  a  railroad,  furnish  a  city  with 


124  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

water,  conduct  a  public  cemetery,  develop  an  oil- 
field -  " 

"Or  produce  and  distribute  natural  gas?"  sug- 
gested Dalzell. 

"Surely." 

"Then  how  does  it  come  to  be  now  on  the  market  ? 
Why  isn't  some  one  using  it?" 

"Well,  that's  hard  to  say.  Whoever  got  hold 
of  it  finally  proved  a  delinquent  taxpayer,  and  the 
charter  was  sold  under  the  hammer.  I  bid  it  in  ; 
and  as  the  rights  conveyed  by  it  pass  unimpaired 
to  the  purchaser  at  a  tax  sale,  the  charter  is  as  good 
today  as  it  was  on  the  day  the  Governor  signed  it." 

"How  much  can  we  get  it  for?" 

"Thirty-five  thousand  dollars." 

Dalzell  whistled,  but  as  his  friend  declined  to 
consider  any  lower  terms  he  carried  the  offer  back 
to  Pittsburgh  with  some  misgivings.  Mr.  West- 
inghouse,  instead  of  being  irritated  at  the  price 
named,  received  the  news  with  apparent  satisfaction, 
remarking : 

"  If  the  charter  is  all  that  is  represented,  I'll  buy  it. 
Go  over  it  carefully  and  give  me  your  written  opinion." 

Dalzell  did  so,  reported  in  favor  of  the  charter, 
and  the  money  passed.  Equipped  now  with  all 
the  weapons  necessary  for  his  fight  with  his  confed- 
erated rivals,  Westinghouse  proceeded  to  launch 
the  Philadelphia  Company  in  its  new  domain. 

Two  special  conditions  contributed  largely  to 
hamper  this  undertaking.  Not  long  before  the  com- 
pany announced  itself  ready  for  business,  the  Penn 
Bank,  a  financial  institution  of  supposed  soundness 


WHAT  THE  GAS   DID   FOR   PITTSBURGH     125 

in  which  a  great  many  Pittsburghers  were  deposi- 
tors, had  suddenly  collapsed,  and  a  series  of  mer- 
cantile failures  occurred  in  and  about  the  city.  In 
these  circumstances,  few  people  were  favorably 
inclined  toward  new  and  untested  lines  of  invest- 
ment. Then,  also,  a  popular  doubt  had  sprung 
up,  industriously  cultivated  by  the  hostile  combina- 
tion, as  to  how  long  the  supply  of  natural  gas  would 
continue  sufficient  in  quantity  to  meet  the  extraordi- 
nary drafts  which  would  be  made  upon  it  if  all  the 
mills  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  were  to  substitute 
gas  for  coal.  One  statistician  whose  opinion  was 
generally  regarded  as  reliable  published  an  estimate 
that  the  total  consumption,  including  both  manu- 
facturing establishments  and  houses,  but  excluding 
blast  furnaces,  would  run  as  high  as  thirty  million 
feet  a  day.  The  local  population,  not  accustomed 
to  figures  of  this  magnitude,  were  taken  by  surprise, 
and  they  had  not  yet  fully  recovered  their  breath 
when  Mr.  Westinghouse,  to  whom  the  estimate 
had  been  carried  for  criticism,  met  it,  not  with  denials 
or  evasions,  but  with  the  still  more  startling  declara- 
tion that  the  probabilities  pointed  to  nearer  four 
hundred  million  feet.  His  own  idea  was  that  the 
frankness  of  this  announcement  would  tend  to  re- 
store confidence  rather  than  shake  it  further.  He 
discussed  the  matter  on  this  basis  with  an  old  friend 
whom  he  often  consulted  about  financing  problems, 
and  who  presently  inquired:  "At  what  capitaliza- 
tion do  you  purpose  starting  your  company  ?" 

"In  view  of  all  the  chances  we  must  take,"  he 
answered,  "I  don't  believe  we  can  afford  to  have 


126  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

less  than  six  million  dollars  to  begin  with.  How 
does  it  look  to  you?" 

"Your  scheme  is  grand.  If  you  had  the  wealth 
of  the  Indies  to  draw  upon  for  making  it  go,  you 
would  rank  with  the  world's  great  benefactors. 
But  when  you  reflect  that  you  have  got  to  woo 
every  one  of  those  dollars  from  the  purse  of  some 
one  whose  fright  over  recent  events  has  made  a 
dollar  within  reach  look  bigger  than  ten  dollars  he 
will  have  to  wait  for,  you  are  tackling  no  light  job." 

"'Woo7?  'Fright'?"  echoed  Westinghouse.  "Why, 
man,  you  don't  know  what  you  are  talking  about. 
There  isn't  a  manufacturer  in  Pittsburgh  so  blind 
as  not  to  be  able  to  see  what  the  future  has  in  store 
for  us  here.  When  we  announce  that  we  are  ready 
for  subscriptions  to  our  stock,  there  will  be  a  rush 
for  shares  such  as  you  have  never  seen  or  dreamed 
of.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  we  had  to  engage  a  squad 
of  police  to  keep  order !" 

In  the  Pittsburgh  newspapers  of  August  4,  1884, 
appeared  an  advertisement  filling  between  three 
and  four  columns,  setting  forth  the  prospectus  of 
the  Philadelphia  Company,  naming  as  its  officers 
George  Westinghouse,  Junior,  president,  Robert 
Pitcairn,  vice  president,  John  Caldwell,  secretary 
and  treasurer.  The  board  of  directors  included 
with  these  officers  H.  H.  Westinghouse  and  John 
Dalzell.  T.  A.  Gillespie  also  was  mentioned  as  a 
stockholder,  but  with  no  office.  The  company, 
it  appeared,  owned  all  the  gas  rights  on  the  "Soli- 
tude" property  and  sundry  other  tracts  where  it 
had  already  drilled  wells  or  might  thereafter  drill 


WHAT  THE  GAS  DID  FOR  PITTSBURGH     127 

them,  as  well  as  Westinghouse's  patent  Number 
301,191,  for  a  "  system  for  conveying  and  utilizing 
gas  under  pressure",  covering  the  features  referred 
to  in  a  previous  chapter. 

Possibly  his  consultation  with  his  old  friend  was 
responsible  for  a  slight  change  in  the  original  plan, 
for  we  find  that  the  capital  stock  of  the  company 
was  fixed,  for  the  time  being,  at  only  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  although  the  advertisement  an- 
nounces an  intention  to  increase  this  to  five  million 
dollars,  "  so  that  funds  may  be  secured  to  operate 
largely  in  the  distribution  and  supply  of  natural 
gas  at  whatever  points,  within  the  Commonwealth 
or  without,  there  may  be  demand  therefor."  With 
the  increase  of  capital,  the  gas  wells  and  potentially 
productive  territory  controlled  by  Westinghouse, 
his  patent  on  pipes  for  transporting  gas,  and  the 
charter  of  the  company,  were  to  be  put  in  at  a  valua- 
tion of  two  million,  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  the  remainder  of  the  five  million  dollars 
stock  being  offered  to  the  public  for  subscription. 
This  advertisement  was  repeated  four  times  at  later 
dates. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  expected 
rush  did  not  materialize,  and  that  the  banks  which 
had  undertaken  to  receive  subscriptions  were  able 
to  go  on  with  their  ordinary  routine  of  daily  trade. 
After  waiting  long  enough  to  satisfy  himself  that  his 
fellow  citizens  generally  did  not  share  his  glowing 
anticipations,  Westinghouse  made  a  canvass  among 
his  circle  of  personal  friends,  reinforcing  the  pros- 
pects held  out  in  print  with  a  running  commentary 


128  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

of  his  own.  As  always  happened  at  close  contact, 
his  enthusiasm  proved  infectious.  In  blocks  rang- 
ing from  a  hundred  shares  to  several  thousand,  he 
disposed  of  as  much  of  the  stock  of  the  new  corpora- 
tion as  was  necessary  to  enable  it  to  begin  business, 
and  before  very  long  the  rumors  that  it  was  turning 
out  a  money-maker  caused  a  lively  speculation  in 
its  shares.  Its  first  dividends  were  at  the  rate  of 
one  per  cent  a  month,  but  later  it  was  thought 
prudent  to  reduce  this  to  eight  per  cent  a  year. 
While  Westinghouse  was  still  its  principal  figure, 
his  company  put  up  a  splendid  office  building  in 
the  heart  of  the  business  center  of  Pittsburgh, 
where,  from  the  upper  windows,  he  could  look  over 
at  the  strip  of  railroad  track  on  which  he  made 
his  first  demonstration  of  the  practical  operation 
of  his  air  brake. 

In  course  of  time,  as  some  of  the  less  hopeful 
prophets  had  predicted,  the  local  use  of  natural 
gas  for  manufacturing  was  materially  reduced.  This 
was  due  partly  to  the  diminished  product  of  the 
near-by  wells,  which  necessitated  bringing  in  a  supply 
from  distant  fields  and  at  an  increased  cost,  and 
partly  to  the  comparative  cheapness  of  the  coal 
mined  almost  at  the  doors  of  the  city,  which  experts 
have  pronounced  the  finest  manufacturing  coal  in 
the  world.  But  natural  gas  is  still  used  almost 
universally  in  Pittsburgh  and  its  neighborhood  for 
domestic  purposes,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
industrial  lines. 

While  the  direct  results  of  the  natural  gas  develop- 
ment in  the  Pittsburgh  district  were  vast  in  their 


WHAT  THE  GAS  DID  FOR  PITTSBURGH     129 

financial  aspect,  the  indirect  consequences  are  more 
difficult  to  comprehend  or  estimate.  At  about  the 
time  when  the  availability  of  gas  for  manufacturing 
purposes  was  demonstrated,  the  question  of  the 
best  location  for  the  economical  production  of  iron 
and  steel  was  receiving  most  serious  consideration. 
Iron  ores  had  theretofore  been  brought  from  the 
Northwest  by  lake  and  rail  to  Pittsburgh,  because 
of  the  presence  there  of  an  ample  and  cheap  supply 
of  fuel  necessary  for  the  production  of  iron  and  steel. 
Some  point  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  where  the  fuel 
and  iron  would  meet,  and  thus  save  transshipment 
of  the  ore,  appeared  to  offer  inducements  in  the  way 
of  low  production  costs.  The  introduction  of  nat- 
ural gas,  however,  for  the  time  so  changed  condi- 
tions as  to  induce  the  establishment  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pittsburgh  of  many  new  large  steel  and  iron 
industries  that  otherwise  would  probably  have 
been  located  elsewhere.  These  have  now  become 
permanent,  and,  though  the  increased  cost  of  nat- 
ural gas  has  restored  the  fuel  and  iron  ore  situation 
to  something  like  that  which  preceded  the  gas 
development,  there  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  that 
the  recognized  availability  of  the  Pittsburgh  dis- 
trict for  steel  and  iron  manufacture  will  be  dis- 
turbed. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  either,  that  Pittsburgh 
learned  for  a  while  what  it  meant  to  be  clean.  Dur- 
ing the  natural  gas  regime,  the  pall  of  soot  which 
had  hung  over  the  city  for  years,  showering  dirt 
on  everything,  was  lifted,  and  many  householders 
celebrated  the  relief  by  painting  their  dwellings 


130  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

white.  The  soot  has  now  come  back  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  be  a  nuisance,  but  ingenious  minds  are 
working  on  devices  to  get  finally  rid  of  it,  as  they 
would  not  have  worked  if  the  people  had  not  enjoyed 
one  refreshing  draught  of  something  better.  Mean- 
while the  Philadelphia  Company  has  expanded 
beyond  recognition,  adding  one  asset  after  another 
to  its  possessions,  till  today  it  controls  substantially 
all  the  public  utilities  in  the  city  and  immediate 
suburbs. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS 

THE  Westinghouse  Machine  Company  was  or- 
ganized in  1880,  originally  to  build  high-speed  en- 
gines of  a  type  invented  by  Herman  Westinghouse. 
A  contract  having  been  made  with  the  Brush  Elec- 
tric Company  to  furnish  it  with  these  engines  for 
use  with  direct-driven  dynamos  in  its  system  of 
arc  lighting,  Herman  had  occasion  to  make  a  night 
trip  from  New  York  to  Boston,  and  in  the  smoking 
room  of  his  sleeper  fell  into  conversation  about  his 
errand  with  a  young  man  who  dropped  the  remark 
that  he,  too,  was  interested  in  electric  illumination, 
but  in  a  more  immediate  way,  having  recently  in- 
vented a  self-regulating  dynamo  which  he  believed 
would  solve  one  of  the  most  vexatious  problems  in 
incandescent  lighting.  Up  to  that  time  the  dynamos 
made  by  the  Edison  Company,  the  leading  concern 
in  the  incandescent  field,  had  required  regulation  by 
hand  in  order  to  keep  the  current  suitably  propor- 
tioned to  the  drafts  made  upon  it ;  without  this, 
the  extinction  of  one  lamp  would  throw  an  addi- 
tional force  into  all  the  others  drawing  upon  the 
same  source  of  supply,  with  a  consequent  waste 
of  both  current  and  material.  The  self -regulating 


132  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

dynamo,  of  course,  eliminated  the  expense  and 
uncertainty  of  the  human  factor.  The  inventor 
invited  his  new  acquaintance  to  call  on  his  return, 
and  look  at  the  machine,  introducing  himself  as 
William  Stanley,  an  electrical  engineer  by  pro- 
fession. 

Although  nothing  of  importance  resulted  immedi- 
ately from  this  meeting,  it  paved  the  way  for  rela- 
tions of  much  intimacy  in  later  years,  when  George 
Westinghouse,  having  become  interested  in  what 
he  learned  about  the  dynamo  and  about  a  lamp  of 
Stanley's  invention,  engaged  the  young  man  to 
conduct  sundry  experiments  in  the  same  line  at  the 
works  of  the  Union  Switch  and  Signal  Company, 
and  out  of  these  grew  the  first  electrical  apparatus 
manufactured  under  the  Westinghouse  auspices. 
The  enterprise  was  not  extensive  in  its  beginnings, 
consisting  chiefly  of  supplying  apparatus  for  incan- 
descent lighting  in  competition  with  the  Edison 
Company,  there  being  little  difference  between  the 
two  systems  except  for  the  important  self-regulat- 
ing feature  of  the  dynamo.  One  of  its  indirect 
effects,  however,  was  to  bring  sharply  to  the  atten- 
tion of  Westinghouse  the  limitations  of  the  direct 
current  system  then  exclusively  employed  for  light- 
ing and  power  purposes,  ultimately  leading  to  his 
early  identification  of  the  great  advantage  to  be 
derived  by  the  substitution  of  the  alternating  sys- 
tem for  the  direct  system.  And  thus  we  approach 
the  verge  of  one  of  the  hardest  fought  wars  that 
ever  occurred  in  the  scientific  field,  the  contest  of 
the  currents. 


THE   CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS      133 

For  the  reader's  better  understanding,  it  may  be 
said  that  a  direct  or  continuous  current  is  compa- 
rable to  water  made  to  flow  through  a  pipe  always 
in  one  direction,  whereas  an  alternating  current  is 
as  if  the  same  water  were  made  to  flow  through  the 
pipe  first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  the  other,  the 
reversals  of  direction  occurring  a  great  many  times 
in  a  single  second --an  expedition  which  would 
be  possible  only  in  so  imponderable  an  essence  as 
electricity.  The  result  to  the  user  of  electricity  is 
practically  the  same  with  either  system,  except  in 
the  matter  of  cost.  With  the  direct  system  it  is 
necessary  to  generate  and  distribute  the  current  at 
a  pressure,  or  voltage,  that  will  not  burn  out  the 
filament  of  incandescent  lamps.  As  this  pressure 
is  relatively  very  low,  and  the  quantity  of  electricity 
that  can  be  conveyed  by  wires  is  dependent  upon 
the  pressure  at  which  it  is  being  distributed,  the 
cost  of  the  conducting  wires,  constituting  a  large 
part  of  the  investment  in  an  electric  production  and 
distribution  system,  is  greatly  increased  as  compared 
with  the  alternating  system  ;  in  the  latter,  very  high 
electrical  pressures  can  be  employed,  with  a  pro- 
portionate reduction  in  the  cost  of  the  distributing 
wires,  and  then,  by  simple  and  cheap  mechanisms, 
transformed  or  converted  to  the  required  low  pres- 
sures at  the  point  of  use. 

At  the  time  we  are  now  considering,  the  popular 
impression  was  general  that  it  would  be  out  of  the 
question  to  employ  the  alternating  current  for 
incandescent  lighting,  inasmuch  as  such  high  pres- 
sures would  burn  out  the  filaments  of  incandescent 


134  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

lamps.  Moreover,  there  prevailed  a  widespread 
terror  of  an  invisible  agent  with  such  a  capacity  for 
the  destruction  of  life  by  shock  and  of  property  by 
fire.  To  the  discovery  of  some  means  whereby  the 
mighty  resources  of  the  alternating  current  could 
be  placed,  with  reasonable  safety  and  for  a  price 
not  prohibitive,  at  the  disposal  of  whoever  wished 
to  use  it  for  impelling  the  machinery  of  manufacture, 
for  lighting  streets,  halls  and  houses,  or  for  easing 
the  difficulties  of  housekeeping,  Mr.  Westinghouse 
directed  his  own  ingenuity  and  devoted  that  of  the 
little  scientific  corps  he  gradually  gathered  about 
him. 

During  one  of  her  journeys  abroad,  Mrs.  West- 
inghouse had  fallen  dangerously  ill  and  been  restored 
to  health  by  the  skill  of  an  Italian  physician  named 
Pantaleoni.  Mr.  Westinghouse  was  deeply  grate- 
ful, and,  when  he  found  that  Guido  Pantaleoni, 
the  doctor's  son,  had  inherited  a  scientific  bent, 
he  brought  the  young  man  to  this  country  and  gave 
him  a  responsible  position  in  the  employ  of  the  Union 
Switch  and  Signal  Company.  Albert  Schmid,  a 
Swiss  engineer  of  great  competence,  whom  Mr. 
Westinghouse  had  met  while  looking  into  certain 
arc-light  experiments  in  Paris,  came  over  about  the 
same  time  and  was  taken  on,  his  special  function 
being  to  design  and  construct  the  dynamos  needed 
to  carry  into  practical  effect  the  discoveries  reported 
by  Stanley  from  the  laboratory.  Member  after 
member  was  thus  added  to  the  staff,  which  later 
included,  as  the  chief's  interest  in  electrical  matters 
grew  more  intense,  Oliver  B.  Shallenberger,  Nikola 


MARGUERITE  ERSKINE  WESTINGHOUSE 


THE   CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS      135 

Tesla,  Reginald  Belfield,  Charles  F.  Scott,  Lewis  B. 
Stillwell,  Loyall  A.  Osborne,  and  several  other 
gifted  and  ambitious  young  engineers  who  have 
since  become  famous  in  their  own  right. 

The  fundamental  limitations  of  the  direct  current 
system,  already  pointed  out,  had  been  fully  developed 
during  the  early  '8os,  and  the  exorbitant  cost  of 
distribution,  due  to  the  heavy  copper  wire  necessary 
to  be  used,  threatened  to  be  still  further  enhanced 
by  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  copper.  When  to  this 
was  added  the  multiplication  of  distributing  sta- 
tions necessitated  by  the  short  carrying  distance 
of  the  direct  current,  Westinghouse  felt  that  hard 
and  fast  bounds  had  been  set  to  the  expansion  of 
the  industry.  The  London  technical  weekly,  Engi- 
neering, had  paid  unusual  attention,  as  early  as  1883, 
to  certain  letters  patent  issued  jointly  in  Great 
Britain  to  a  brace  of  collaborators,  a  French  elec- 
trician named  Lucien  Gaulard  and  an  English  engi- 
neer named  John  Dixon  Gibbs.  Their  invention 
consisted  of  a  system  for  distributing  alternating 
currents  through  "transformers",  and  their  mech- 
anism had  made  its  first  public  appearance  at  an 
electrical  show  held  in  the  Westminster  Aquarium. 

The  earlier  printed  references  to  the  device  seem 
not  to  have  particularly  appealed  to  Westinghouse ; 
but  in  the  spring  of  1885  he  became  very  much 
interested  in  some  descriptive  and  illustrated  articles 
dealing  with  the  electric  lighting  department  of 
an  International  Inventions  Exhibition  just  opened 
in  South  Kensington.  On  this  occasion  lamps 
manufactured  by  his  own  company  were  among 


136  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  foreign  products  displayed.  A  competing  con- 
cern was  showing  a  number  of  its  lamps  of  different 
types,  every  one  fed  by  a  current  obtained  from  a 
Gaulard-Gibbs  "secondary  generator",  which,  as 
Engineering  explained,  was  an  apparatus  designed 
to  make  it  possible  to  carry  a  large  amount  of  elec- 
trical energy  on  a  small  conductor,  and  draw  it  off 
at  various  points  in  such  quantities  and  under  such 
pressure  conditions  as  might  be  required.  From  a 
single  small  main  were  fed  large  and  small  arc  lamps, 
Jablochkoff  candles  and  incandescent  lamps,  re- 
quiring varying  electromotive  forces.  At  every 
place  where  there  was  a  lamp  or  group  of  lamps  of 
one  character,  a  secondary  generator  or  transformer 
was  inserted  into  the  circuit,  and  a  part  of  the 
energy  flowing  in  the  main  and  primary  circuit 
was  made  to  induce  a  corresponding  and  nearly 
equal  amount  of  energy  in  a  local  secondary  circuit, 
of  the  required  electrical  pressure. 

On  the  strength  of  this  testimony,  Westinghouse 
arranged  to  import  a  few  of  the  Gaulard-Gibbs 
transformers.  They  arrived  in  the  autumn  of  1885, 
and  the  tests  to  which  they  were  subjected  by  Mr. 
Westinghouse's  electricians  of  the  Union  Switch 
and  Signal  Company  during  the  next  few  months 
satisfied  him  that  the  European  inventors  had  hit 
upon  one  idea  for  which  he  had  long  been  searching ; 
for  his  success  in  sending  natural  gas  through  rela- 
tively small  pipes  and  high  pressure  over  long 
distances,  and  distributing  it  to  consumers  under 
reduced  pressure,  led  him  to  believe  that  electric 
current  could  in  the  same  way  be  advantageously 


THE  CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS      137 

distributed  at  high  voltage  and  locally  reduced  by 
transformers,  or  converters,  as  they  then  were 
called.  Mr.  Stanley,  with  the  assistance  of  some  of 
his  junior  colleagues,  conducted  a  series  of  experi- 
ments which  showed  that  the  serial  system  of  Gau- 
lard  and  Gibbs  should  be  changed  to  a  multiple-arc, 
or  parallel,  arrangement  of  transformers.  The  dif- 
ference may  be  illustrated  in  miniature  by  supposing 
a  current  to  be  arranged  to  feed  ten  lamps,  set 
serially  in  a  circle,  by  passing  from  lamp  to  lamp 
over  an  intervening  wire ;  now,  if  anything  happens 
to  one  of  the  lamps  and  interrupts  the  current 
there,  all  the  lamps  must  go  unfed ;  whereas,  if  the 
same  ten  lamps  were  separately  supplied,  each 
having  its  individual  wire  to  it  from  a  common 
main,  any  one  could  be  cut  off  without  stopping  the 
flow  to  the  rest.  This  last  condition  illustrates 
roughly  the  multiple-arc  or  parallel  system,  as 
distinguished  from  the  serial. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  ratio  of  transformation 
of  which  the  Gaulard-Gibbs  converters  were  capable 
was  insufficient  for  the  purposes  the  Company 
had  in  view,  and  special  transformers,  therefore, 
had  to  be  designed.  Westinghouse  arranged  with 
Stanley,  whose  health  had  become  impaired,  to 
go  to  Great  Barrington,  Massachusetts,  and  estab- 
lish an  experimental  laboratory  for  the  develop- 
ment of  better  types  of  generators  and  transformers. 
Here  Stanley  constructed  about  a  dozen  transformers 
designed  to  reduce  a  five-hundred-volt  main  line 
potential  to  one  hundred  volts  in  the  secondary, 
and,  in  the  spring  of  1886,  placed  these  in  successful 


138  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

operation  and  lighted  several  stores  in  the  village. 
This  was  the  first  installation  of  the  transformer 
system  in  this  country  to  furnish  outside  lighting. 

Meanwhile,  one  afternoon  in  February,  in  the 
first  flush  of  satisfaction  over  some  very  recent 
accomplishment,  Mr.  Westinghouse  had  telegraphed 
Franklin  L.  Pope,  his  New  York  patent  lawyer  and 
an  expert  in  electrical  science,  to  take  the  next  day's 
steamer  for  England.  Pantaleoni,  who  was  in  Pitts- 
burgh at  the  time,  was  dispatched  by  the  first  train 
to  New  York  to  join  Pope  and  accompany  him 
abroad.  The  interview  at  which  he  received  his 
instructions  was  short  and  to  the  point.  The  ex- 
planation of  the  errand  on  which  Pope  and  he  were 
about  to  start  was  condensed  by  Westinghouse  into 
a  simple  command  to  find  Gaulard  and  Gibbs  and 
buy  their  patent  rights  for  the  United  States,  and 
all  the  young  man  ventured  to  inquire  was :  "How 
much  are  we  to  pay  for  the  rights?" 

'They'll  tell  you  their  price,"  was  the  terse  re- 
sponse. "Whatever  it  is,  close  the  bargain,  and 
I'll  send  the  money  by  cable  to  you." 

Within  a  month  the  two  men  were  back  in  this 
country,  bearing  the  assignment  of  the  patent  rights 
desired,  for  which  they  had  paid  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  Westinghouse  had  some  difficulty  at  first 
in  getting  his  acquired  rights  recognized  by  our 
Patent  Office,  but  by  September  this  tangle  was 
cut.  His  staff,  who  in  the  interval  had  been  study- 
ing the  possibilities  of  this  latest  system  of  distri- 
bution, now  attacked  their  task  afresh  from  their 
better  vantage  ground. 


THE   CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS      139 

A  convenient  opportunity  having  arisen  for  re- 
moving the  works  of  the  Union  Switch  and  Signal 
Company  to  the  suburb  of  Swissvale,  its  old  quarters 
in  Garrison  Alley,  Pittsburgh,  were  fitted  up  as  a 
factory  for  making  electrical  apparatus,  and  a  cor- 
poration organized  under  the  title  of  the  Westing- 
house  Electric  Company  took  over  this  branch  of 
the  Union  Switch  and  Signal  Company's  business. 
Here  was  constructed  a  new  alternating-current 
constant-potential  dynamo  invented  and  designed 
by  Stanley.  By  the  following  autumn  the  Electric 
Company  was  prepared  to  make  an  impressive 
demonstration.  A  number  of  converters  and  four 
hundred  lamps  were  placed  in  a  building  at  Lawrence- 
ville,  about  four  miles  from  the  dynamo  which  was 
operated  at  first  to  supply  one  thousand  volts  and 
afterward  two  thousand.  The  lamps  fed  from  this 
current  were  kept  burning  continuously  for  a  fort- 
night. Westinghouse  visited  them  daily  to  observe 
their  action.  It  was  the  first  successful  exhibition 
ever  made  in  the  United  States  of  the  transmission 
of  electrical  energy  for  any  considerable  distance 
through  the  medium  of  the  alternating  current. 
The  same  dynamo,  with  converters,  was  then 
removed  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  placed  in  actual 
service  on  the  night  before  Thanksgiving,  1886. 

The  tests  having  gone  far  enough  to  leave  no  room 
for  doubt  of  what  could  be  accomplished,  orders 
began  to  come  in  for  the  new  apparatus,  which 
promised  to  revolutionize  electric  lighting  by  so 
reducing  the  necessary  cost  as  to  put  small  towns 
substantially  on  an  equal  footing  with  large  ones  as 


I4o  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

to  public  illumination.  Greensburg,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Pittsburgh,  is  credited  with  having  been 
the  first  town  to  procure  a  complete  municipal 
plant  using  the  Westinghouse  alternating  current 
system.  The  business  of  the  Company  advanced 
at  a  rate  with  which  it  was  almost  impossible  to  keep 
apace  in  manufacturing ;  the  works  had  to  be  en- 
larged, and  within  two  years  the  force  employed 
there  numbered  three  thousand  men. 

Not  every  obstacle,  however,  had  yet  been  cleared 
from  the  path  of  the  new  company.  Of  two  things 
it  stood  sorely  in  need  :  a  meter  which  would  accu- 
rately gauge  the  amount  of  electrical  energy  dispensed 
or  applied,  and  a  power  motor.  Both  came  soon. 
In  the  spring  of  1888,  Shallenberger  was  examining 
an  arc  lamp  to  which  Lange,  another  of  Westing- 
house's  engineers,  had  invited  his  attention,  when  a 
small  spiral  spring  chanced  to  drop  out  of  place  and 
lodge  upon  the  top  of  the  magnet  spool  near  the 
projecting  core.  The  friend  was  about  to  pick  it 
up,  when  Shallenberger  caught  his  arm,  saying 
quickly  :  "Wait !  Let's  see  what  makes  that  spring 
revolve."  The  spring,  which  was  about  an  inch  in 
length  and  of  the  diameter  of  a  lead  pencil,  was 
slowly  rotating  on  its  longitudinal  axis.  They 
watched  it  silently  for  a  while,  when  Shallenberger 
exclaimed:  "I  will  make  a  meter  out  of  that!" 
Precisely  four  weeks  from  that  day  he  had  a  com- 
pletely developed  alternating-current  meter  to  ex- 
hibit to  his  colleagues,  and  by  August  it  was  ready 
to  place  on  the  market. 

It  was  to  Tesla  —  described  by  one  of  his  asso- 


THE   CONTEST  OF  THE  CURRENTS      141 

dates  of  those  days  as  "an  inspired  genius,  into 
whose  mind  inventions  sprang  as  the  conception  of 
a  great  picture  projects  itself  upon  the  imagination 
of  an  artist"  -that  the  Company  owed  its  desired 
motor.  By  an  odd  coincidence,  on  the  day  follow- 
ing the  incident  with  the  meter,  Ferrari  published  in 
Italy  a  description  of  an  electric  motor  operating  on 
essentially  the  same  principle  as  the  Shallenberger 
meter ;  and  about  four  weeks  later  Tesla's  descrip- 
tion of  his  own  motor  was  presented  to  the  Ameri- 
can Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  in  New  York. 
Tesla  and  Ferrari,  separated  by  three  thousand  miles, 
had  independently  of  each  other,  but  simultaneously, 
worked  out  the  theory  on  which  the  modern  alter- 
nating-current motor  operates.  Tesla  was  the  earlier 
accredited  inventor  of  the  motor  itself,  having  filed 
his  applications  for  patents  a  considerable  time 
before  the  Ferrari  publication,  and  his  discoveries 
went  further  than  Ferrari's,  including  a  polyphase 
system  which  was  more  satisfactorily  adapted  to 
the  distribution  of  large  power  units. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  the  more  recent 
activity  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  Company 
had  escaped  the  notice  of  the  concerns  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  direct  current  electrical  appa- 
ratus. They  had  at  first  treated  it  as  a  passing 
phase  of  business  rivalry,  but,  with  the  develop- 
ments just  mentioned,  they  awoke  to  a  realiza- 
tion that  a  field  which  they  had  had  for  so  long 
practically  to  themselves  had  been  invaded  by  a 
rival  too  powerful  to  resist  with  merely  defensive 
tactics. 


142  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

The  aggressive  warfare  which  was  opened  forth- 
with upon  George  Westinghouse  and  his  industry 
can  be  fully  appreciated  only  by  reading  the  news- 
papers of  that  day.  Advertising  columns,  news 
columns,  and  editorial  columns  were  employed  indis- 
criminately to  carry  on  the  campaign,  of  which 
anything  like  a  full  history  would  require  several 
volumes  as  large  as  this.  The  summary  that  fol- 
lows, however,  will  suffice  to  indicate  its  scope  and 
spirit. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  STRUGGLE  IN  NEW  YORK 

IN  pursuance  of  his  custom  of  carrying  his  goods 
to  the  largest  market,  Westinghouse  took  speedy 
steps  to  introduce  his  lighting  system  into  New  York 
city  in  competition  with  the  systems  already  on  the 
spot.  That  was  before  the  era  of  underground 
telegraphy,  and  the  streets  had  for  years  been  dis- 
figured with  the  unsightly  poles  laden  with  telegraph 
and  telephone  wires ;  so  that,  when  electric  illumina- 
tion 'began  its  career  there,  such  additional  wires  as 
it  required  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  strung  in 
like  manner. 

Although  arc  lights,  fed  by  high  potential  direct 
currents,  had  been  obtrusively  in  evidence  every- 
where in  New  York  since  the  early  '8os,  their  feeding 
mains  appear  to  have  aroused  little  criticism  as  a 
nuisance ;  but  with  the  advent  of  the  Westinghouse 
enterprise,  all  overhead  cables  suddenly  leaped  into 
prominence  not  only  as  eyesores  but  as  a  public  peril. 
Leading  newspapers  which  till  then  had  confined 
their  discussion  to  the  expediency  of  exchanging  gas 
for  electricity,  began,  with  astonishing  unanimity, 
to  make  a  display  of  every  happening  that  could  be 


144  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

used  to  excite  animosity  in  the  popular  mind  toward 
the  alternating  current.  A  boy  peddler  was  killed 
by  contact  with  a  wire  that  hung  too  low  ;  a  repairer 
was  stricken  while  mending  an  insulator  at  the  top 
of  a  pole :  at  once  the  incidents  were  seized  upon 
and  the  most  was  made  of  them  for  their  local  effect, 
regardless  of  how  much  or  how  little  the  character 
of  the  current  had  to  do  with  the  matter.  When  a 
horse  stepped  upon  a  fallen  wire  in  Buffalo  and  it  and 
its  driver  were  killed,  or  a  wooden  house  in  Pitts- 
burgh was  set  ablaze  by  contact  with  an  exposed 
conductor,  despatches  descriptive  of  the  painful 
details,  often  rendered  more  lurid  by  the  imaginative 
narrator,  were  promptly  telegraphed  to  New  York. 
A  few  dailies  set  up  a  special  department  for  injuries 
inflicted,  damage  suits  entered,  charitable  funds 
started  for  adults  crippled  or  children  orphaned  - 
all  in  consequence  of  the  indifference  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  citizens  to  the  arch  destroyer  hovering 
over  their  heads !  One  fatal  accident  was  exploited 
through  ten  papers  of  the  following  day,  in  articles 
from  a  half-column  to  five  columns  long,  under  this 
variety  of  headings  in  exaggerated  type : 

Horrible  Death  of  a  Lineman. 

The  Wire's  Fatal  Grasp. 

One  Martyr  More. 

Wire  Has  Another  Victim. 

The  Electric  Murderer. 

Another  Lineman  Roasted  to  Death. 

Electric  Wire  Slaughter. 

Again  a  Corpse  in  the  Wires. 

Death's  Riot. 

Electric  Wires  Add  to  Their  List  of  Victims. 


THE  STRUGGLE   IN   NEW  YORK         145 

Abram  S.  Hewitt,  Mayor  of  the  city,  was  frantically 
besought  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  if  need 
be,  and  strip  the  wires  from  their  places ;  and  a  par- 
ticularly strenuous  journal  carried  its  denunciation 
of  his  inaction  so  far  as  to  propose  that  he  be  arrested 
and  locked  up  or  fined  as  accessory  to  "a  carnival  of 
avoidable  homicide."  This  line  of  agitation  at  first 
appeared  to  come  almost  wholly  from  inexpert  or  at 
least  nonprofessional  sources ;  but  presently  arose 
one  Harold  P.  Brown,  an  electrician  by  calling,  who, 
not  content  with  denouncing  the  survival  of  over- 
head wires  in  a  great  city,  made  the  alternating  cur- 
rent itself,  wherever  found  or  however  used  as  a  public 
utility,  an  object  of  attack.  He  obtained  the  use 
one  day  of  a  lecture  room  at  the  Columbia  School  of 
Mines,  and  issued  invitations  to  a  demonstration  he 
was  about  to  make  of  the  difference  between  the 
death-dealing  alternating  current  and  the  compara- 
tively harmless  continuous  current.  He  had  in  his 
audience  representatives  of  the  municipal  Board  of 
Electrical  Control,  several  members  of  the  Electrical 
Institute,  and  a  goodly  group  of  reporters  for  the  press. 
After  putting  a  big  black  dog  to  torture  with  applica- 
tions of  an  alternate  current  at  various  pressures,  he 
dispatched  the  poor  creature  with  a  heavier  shock,  and 
was  about  to  produce  a  fresh  victim  when  the  super- 
intendent of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Animals  interfered. 

"You've  demonstrated  how  many  volts  will  kill 
a  man,"  he  exclaimed,  "and  that's  enough.  The 
show  can't  go  on  !" 

Brown  protested,  but  to  no  avail ;    so  he  left  the 


146  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

audience  to  muse  on  his  statement  that  in  former 
tests,  though  he  had  applied  a  continuous  current  of 
more  than  fourteen  hundred  volts  to  a  dog  without 
producing  death,  he  had  repeatedly  killed  dogs  with 
from  five  to  eight  hundred  volts  of  an  alternating 
current.  The  performance  was  most  cleverly  staged, 
and  for  the  ends  Brown  had  in  view  its  sudden  inter- 
ruption by  a  benevolent  agent  only  heightened  its 
spectacular  effect.  The  sole  suggestion  of  an  anti- 
climax came  when  he  issued  a  challenge  to  the  unbe- 
lieving. 

"I  am  aware,"  said  he,  "that  certain  defenders  of 
the  alternating  current  declare  that  they  have  re- 
ceived a  thousand  volts  without  injury.  Would 
any  one  present  like  to  take  a  thousand  volts  ?" 

One  skeptic  promptly  responded  that  he  had  a 
friend  there  —  an  electrical  expert  —  whom  he  would 
put  forward  to  take  a  thousand  volts  of  alternating 
current,  if  Brown  would  prove  his  faith  by  taking  a 
thousand  volts  of  continuous  current.  Brown  de- 
clined on  the  ground  that  the  proposal  was  foolish  ; 
and,  as  the  friend  who  had  been  offered  for  sacrifice 
on  the  altar  of  science  seemed  relieved  at  this  retort, 
the  discussion  ended  and  the  gathering  dispersed, 
but  not  until  Brown  had  oratorically  declared  that 
the  only  places  where  the  alternating  current  ought 
to  be  permitted  were  "  the  dog  pound,  the  slaughter 
house,  and  the  State  prison."  This  last  suggestion 
derived  a  timely  significance  from  the  fact  that  the 
New  York  legislature  had,  but  a  few  weeks  before, 
amended  the  criminal  code  by  the  substitution  of 
electricity  for  hanging  as  the  death  penalty,  and 


THE  STRUGGLE   IN   NEW  YORK         147 

Mr.  Brown  had  been  one  of  the  authorities  most 
depended  on  by  the  special  advocates  of  the  change. 

Mr.  Westinghouse  and  his  friends  took  pains  to 
make  plain  that  they  would  welcome  any  practical 
plan  for  taking  all  wires  out  of  the  air  and  running 
them  underground.  The  demands  made  upon  Mayor 
Hewitt  were  met  with  the  calm  response  that  he 
would  be  most  happy  to  remove  all  obstructions  from 
the  highways  as  soon  as  he  could  see  his  way  clear  to 
do  so  without  producing  more  bad  than  good  results ; 
and  that,  instead  of  trying  to  drive  any  particular 
electric  system  out  of  business,  the  more  sensible 
course  would  be  to  retain  the  benefits  of  all  for  the 
public  but  subject  their  traffic  to  careful  regula- 
tion. Still  there  was  no  silencing  the  complainants, 
whose  continued  assaults  gradually  wore  upon  the 
nerves  of  their  adversaries.  The  atmosphere  be- 
came, for  a  while,  thick  with  the  personalities,  in- 
cluding charges  of  interested  motives  and  even  of 
bribery  and  fraud,  volleyed  back  and  forth  between 
the  champions  of  the  respective  systems.  Nobody 
was  spared.  A  letter  written  by  ex-Governor  Cornell 
to  the  Mayor,  urging  the  absolute  prohibition  of  high- 
tension  circuits  anywhere  within  the  city  limits, 
came  in  for  some  sarcastic  comments  at  a  convention 
of  the  National  Electric  Light  Association  held  in 
New  York  late  in  the  summer  of  1888. 

Doctor  P.  H.  Van  der  Weyde  read  a  paper  on  the 
"Comparative  Danger  of  the  Alternating  vs.  Direct 
Currents"  in  which  he  declared  that  Brown's  as- 
sumptions on  this  head  were  erroneous  because  the 
criterion  on  which  he  based  his  comparison  was 


148  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

scientifically  defective,  and  added  that,  while  danger 
lurked  in  both,  it  was  no  greater  in  the  alternating 
than  in  the  continuous  system.  The  convention 
attested  its  sympathy  with  this  view  by  unanimously 
adopting,  amid  great  applause,  a  series  of  resolutions 
condemning  "the  persistent  efforts  of  rival  interests 
to  educate  the  public  to  a  distrust  of  high-potential 
electric  currents",  as  liable  to  instigate  unfair  legis- 
lation, and  declaring  it  "  entirely  possible  to  pro- 
duce and  distribute  high-tension  currents  for  pub- 
lic use  without  any  more  danger  or  difficulty  than 
attends  the  distribution  of  gas  and  water  in  our 
dwellings." 

This  unqualified  assurance  from  an  organization 
representing  the  highest  electrical  talent  in  America 
did  not  have  its  hoped-for  effect  upon  the  press, 
which,  though  quoting  it  with  every  mark  of  respect 
for  the  Association,  continued  to  berate  the  alter- 
nating current  and  its  promoters.  One  newspaper 
created  a  sensation  in  the  slum  districts,  where  pic- 
tures appealed  much  more  to  the  popular  emotions 
than  any  kind  of  reading  matter,  by  spreading  on 
its  first  page  a  hideous  cartoon  showing  a  graveyard, 
with  headstones  bearing  the  names  of  the  victims  of 
the  wires  who  had  already  been  buried,  and  an  open 
grave,  with  a  coffin  beside  it,  waiting  for  the  next  on 
the  list.  Interviewers  pursued  Westinghouse  where- 
ever  he  went,  trying  to  lure  him  into  some  explosive 
utterance  against  Thomas  A.  Edison,  the  chief  expo- 
nent of  the  continuous  current,  which  might  produce 
a  personal  collision  between  the  two  inventors,  and 
thus  set  free  a  fund  of  spicy  "copy."  But  on  the 


THE  STRUGGLE   IN   NEW  YORK         149 

one  or  two  occasions  when  he  did  consent  to  speak, 
nothing  more  violent  than  this  was  forthcoming : 

''The  alternating  current  will  kill  people,  of  course. 
So  will  gunpowder,  and  dynamite,  and  whisky,  and 
lots  of  other  things ;  but  we  have  a  system  whereby 
the  deadly  electricity  of  the  alternating  current  can 
do  no  harm  unless  a  man  is  fool  enough  to  swallow 
a  whole  dynamo." 

And  in  a  letter  to  one  paper  which,  though  critical, 
had  seemed  inclined  to  be  fair,  he  wrote : 

"  The  alternating  current  is  less  dangerous  to  life 
from  the  fact  that  the  momentary  reversal  of  direc- 
tion prevents  decomposition  of  tissues,  and  injury 
can  result  only  from  the  general  effect  of  the  shock ; 
whereas  in  a  continuous  current  there  is  not  only 
the  injury  from  the  latter  cause,  but  a  positive 
organic  change  from  chemical  decomposition,  much 
more  rapid  and  injurious  in  its  effects.  A  large 
number  of  persons  can  be  produced  who  have  re- 
ceived a  one-thousand  volt  shock  from  alternating 
currents  without  injury,  and  among  them  a  wire- 
man  who  became  insensible  and  held  his  hand  in 
contact  with  the  wires  for  a  period  of  three  minutes 
without  fatal  results  —  in  fact,  was  able  to  go  on 
with  his  work  after  a  short  period.  .  .  . 

"  The  alternating  system  not  only  permits  the  use 
of  a  current  of  one  thousand  volts  for  street  mains, 
but  requires  its  conversion  into  currents  of  fifty  volts 
or  less  for  house-wiring.  The  converters  are  so  con- 
structed that  the  primary  or  street  current  can  never 
by  any  possibility  enter  the  house.  .  .  .  No  person 
coming  in  contact  with  the  alternating  current  as 


150  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

used  for  domestic  lighting  would  be  aware  of  its 
presence." 

Even  the  most  sober  of  the  great  periodicals  were 
drawn  into  the  controversy.  An  article  on  "The 
Dangers  of  Electric  Lighting",  arraigning  the  alter- 
nating current,  by  Thomas  A.  Edison,  appeared  in 
the  North  American  Review,  and  "A  Reply  to  Mr. 
Edison",  by  George  Westinghouse,  in  the  next 
month's  number. 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  temper  and  methods  of 
the  forces  arrayed  against  him  that  no  sooner  were 
they  convinced  that  Westinghouse  was  sincere  in  his 
desire  for  some  practical  plan  for  sinking  the  wires 
underground  than  they  began  to  cry  out  that,  though 
telephone  and  telegraph  and  other  direct-current 
wires  might  be  placed  there  with  safety,  the  alternat- 
ing-current wires  could  not.  A  start  had  been  made 
upon  a  scheme  of  electric-wire  subways,  but  the  con- 
tractors who  had  it  in  charge  were  so  slow  that  the 
work  came  presently  to  what  amounted  to  a  dead 
standstill.  In  the  midst  of  the  turmoil  Hugh  J. 
Grant  succeeded  to  the  mayoralty,  and  his  office 
became  the  storm-center  of  a  tremendous  struggle 
which  lasted  about  two  years,  and  was  punctuated 
at  intervals  by  court  orders,  injunctions,  and  counter- 
injunctions,  and  by  raids  made  upon  the  overhead 
wires  by  gangs  of  municipal  employees  under  orders 
to  cut  away  all  that  were  improperly  insulated, 
obstructively  hung,  or  otherwise  liable  to  be  dan- 
gerous. 

Many  of  the  laborers  employed  in  these  forays, 
not  being  trained  for  their  task,  made  costly  mistakes 


THE  STRUGGLE   IN   NEW  YORK         151 

of  indiscrimination,  cutting  inoffensive  wires  and 
severing  important  connections.  As  a  result,  the 
great  city  was  left  almost  in  darkness  at  times,  as 
arrangements  for  going  back  to  lighting  the  streets 
with  gas  were  not  easily  perfected.  But  finally 
peace  was  restored  on  a  basis  which,  if  not  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  all  parties,  at  least  permitted 
the  subway  system  to  be  finished  and  the  overhead 
wires  transferred  to  it ;  and,  but  for  an  occasional 
quarrel  over  rental  privileges  or  the  like,  New  York 
resumed  its  normal  night  illumination,  and  something 
like  order  settled  down  where  chaos  had  reigned 
before. 

In  view  of  the  generally  efficient  electric  service 
enjoyed  by  all  cities  now,  and  the  enormous  extent 
to  which  the  alternating  current  has  come  to  be  used 
for  lighting,  cooking,  running  machinery  large  and 
small,  and  after-dark  advertising,  with  comparative 
freedom  from  casualties,  it  is  amusing  to  recall  the 
dismal  warnings  put  forth  by  as  brilliant  a  man  as 
Mr.  Edison  a  generation  ago.  He  was  freely  quoted 
in  newspaper  interviews  as  positive  that  no  known 
method  of  insulation  could  render  a  high-tension 
alternating  wire  safe ;  and  that,  as  for  subways, 
they  would  not  lessen  the  danger,  because  the  high- 
tension  current  would  burn  out  the  tubes  and  enter 
dwellings  through  the  manholes.  He  insisted  that 
if  the  alternating  current  were  to  be  used  at  all  in 
New  York,  its  maximum  pressure  must  be  reduced 
to  two  hundred  volts.  Some  of  his  more  radical 
disciples  went  so  far  as  to  argue  that  to  take  the  ob- 
noxious wires  out  of  the  upper  air  and  run  them 


152  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

through  subways  would  only  multiply  the  perils 
with  which  they  menaced  life  and  property. 

All  this  is,  of  course,  so  old  a  story  now  that  we 
can  afford  to  laugh  over  it  without  wasting  further 
space  on  a  rehearsal  of  details.  One  incident  of  the 
fight  upon  the  alternating  current,  however,  to  which 
I  have  made  but  a  casual  allusion  before,  was  too 
theatrical  in  character  to  be  passed  thus  summarily. 
I  refer  to  the  adoption  by  the  State  of  New  York  of 
what  is  commonly  styled  electrocution. 

The  sensibilities  of  all  humane  people  had  been 
shocked  so  often  by  ill-managed  hangings,  that  on 
Governor  Hill's  recommendation  the  Legislature  of 
1886  created  by  statute  a  commission  composed  of 
three  citizens  conspicuous  for  their  intelligence, 
philanthropy,  and  high  character,  to  consider  the 
question  of  a  change  in  the  method  of  executing  the 
death  penalty.  These  gentlemen  spent  more  than 
a  year  on  their  inquiry,  and  then  Elbridge  T.  Gerry, 
their  chairman,  presented  a  report  in  favor  of  using 
the  alternating  electric  current,  and  an  act  to  that 
effect  was  passed  ;  but  coupled  with  the  main  pro- 
vision were  several  others  regarding  the  mode  of 
confinement  of  the  condemned  person,  his  privileges 
in  the  death-ward,  the  discretionary  hour  of  the 
execution,  the  functionaries  who  must  witness  it, 
and  the  silence  which  must  be  maintained  by  the 
press  as  to  everything  except  the  bare  fact  that  such 
an  event  had  occurred. 

At  once  arose  a  chorus  of  belated  protests  from 
persons  who  had  ignored  their  opportunity  to  present 
their  objections  to  the  Commission  or  the  Legislature. 


THE  STRUGGLE   IN   NEW  YORK         153 

Some  criminal  lawyers  denounced  the  proposed 
punishment  as  " cruel"  and  " unusual"  within  the 
intent  of  the  Constitutional  prohibition  ;  a  physician 
here  and  there  voiced  his  judgment  that  the  electric 
current  shot  through  a  human  being  would  torture 
him  fearfully  before  killing,  and  that  at  best  its  mor- 
tal effectiveness  was  open  to  question ;  scores  of 
sentimentalists  censured  the  preliminary  precau- 
tions and  the  provisions  as  to  witnesses ;  and  most 
of  the  newspapers  which  had  been  accustomed  to 
print  long  and  elaborate  accounts  of  hangings  fell 
afoul  of  the  restrictions  on  publicity.  This  pro- 
miscuous agitation  prepared  the  popular  mind  for 
what  was  coming  next  —  the  announcement  that 
Harold  P.  Brown  had  obtained  a  contract  for  fur- 
nishing the  apparatus  needed  for  disposing  of  the 
first  malefactor  doomed  to  suffer  death  under  the 
new  law.  He  was  one  William  Kemmler,  an  ignorant 
and  besotted  creature,  more  brute  than  man,  who, 
in  a  fit  of  anger,  had  hacked  a  dissolute  woman  to 
death  with  an  ax.  All  the  circumstances  of  the 
murder  were  so  revolting  that  whatever  was  asso- 
ciated with  it  in  any  way  seemed  to  suffer  a  taint 
from  the  contact,  not  excepting  the  instrument  of 
death  with  which  society  proposed  to  avenge  the 
crime.  And  then  the  further  news  came  out  that 
Mr.  Brown  had  equipped  not  only  the  Auburn  State 
prison,  where  Kemmler  had  been  condemned  to  die, 
but  Sing  Sing  and  Clinton  as  well,  with  complete 
Westinghouse  outfits,  one  of  which,  he  said,  had 
"already  a  record  as  a  man-killer";  and  that,  ap- 
parently in  order  to  escape  the  danger  of  a  refusal 


154  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

if  he  tried  to  make  his  purchase  direct,  he  had  bought 
his  apparatus  of  middlemen.  The  indignation  of 
Westinghouse  passed  all  bounds,  but  he  kept  its 
outward  expression  under  strong  control,  and,  be- 
yond a  fresh  refutation  of  the  slurs  cast  at  his  system 
by  falsehoods  or  half-truths,  held  his  peace  for  a 
time  to  await  events. 

Immediately  after  his  sentence,  Kemmler's  attor- 
neys began  a  series  of  appeals  which  for  industry 
and  ingenuity  have  never  been  surpassed  in  their 
way.  The  challenge  to  the  constitutionality  of  the 
new  law  was  threshed  out  so  completely  that  not  a 
shred  of  doubt  remained  ;  a  canvass  of  the  scientific 
question  also  was  carried  as  far  as  the  endurance  of 
the  courts  could  be  stretched,  and  included  a  hearing 
before  a  referee,  at  which  Edison  and  Brown  were 
the  star  witnesses  called  to  prove  the  deadliness  of 
the  alternating  current.  The  battle  for  Kemmler's 
rescue  even  invaded  the  Legislature,  where  Newton 
M.  Curtis,  for  half  a  lifetime  a  propagandist  against 
judicial  homicide,  succeeded  in  pushing  through  the 
Assembly  a  bill  to  abolish  capital  punishment  al- 
together in  New  York,  but,  the  Senate  refusing 
compliance,  his  efforts  came  to  naught. 

As  Kemmler  was  penniless,  and  the  customary 
fees  of  lawyers  like  William  Bourke  Cockran  and 
Roger  M.  Sherman  were  far  from  trifling,  a  suspicion 
gained  place  in  the  public  mind  for  a  season  that 
Westinghouse  stood  with  his  purse  behind  these 
strenuous  attempts  to  stay  the  hand  of  justice,  in 
the  hope  of  saving  the  offspring  of  his  faith  and  cour- 
age from  being  "  turned  to  hangman's  uses."  There 


THE  STRUGGLE   IN   NEW  YORK         155 

was  never  a  shadow  of  evidence  forthcoming,  how- 
ever, to  justify  such  an  inference ;  and  when  West- 
inghouse  himself  condescended  to  deny  the  rumor, 
that  ended  the  matter.  Every  defensive  resource, 
State  or  Federal,  having  been  exhausted,  sentence 
was  pronounced  for  the  third  and  last  time,  and  on 
August  6,  1890,  Kemmler  was  put  to  death  in  the 
electric  chair. 

In  his  official  report  on  the  execution,  Doctor 
Carlos  F.  MacDonald,  the  supervising  physician, 
made  the  unqualified  assertion  that,  in  comparison 
with  hanging,  "  electricity  is  infinitely  preferable, 
both  as  regards  the  suddenness  with  which  death  is 
effected,  and  the  expedition  with  which  all  the  pre- 
liminary details  may  be  arranged.  ...  In  other 
words,  it  is  the  surest,  quickest,  and  least  painful 
method  that  has  yet  been  devised."  Such  a  verdict 
from  such  a  source  lulled  the  tumult  except  among  a 
few  representatives  of  the  yellow  press  ;  and,  as  soon 
as  the  sensational  features  of  the  case  lost  their 
popular  appeal,  nearly  everybody  passed  from  con- 
sidering arguments  against  tolerating  the  employ- 
ment of  the  alternating  current  for  public  utilities, 
to  searching  for  new  lines  of  industrial  production 
or  social  convenience  to  which  it  could  be  applied. 


CHAPTER  XII 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  " STOPPER"  LAMP 

THE  reader  can  hardly  have  failed  to  discover  that 
the  fertility  of  mind  and  the  self-confidence  which 
distinguished  George  Westinghouse  were  combined 
with  a  charm  of  personality  that  attracted  men  to 
him  on  short  acquaintance,  and  a  masterful  quality 
to  which  they  responded  almost  unconsciously  with 
compliance.  These  traits  made  him  not  only  the 
titular  head  of  any  enterprise  he  started,  but  sub- 
stantially a  dictator  in  its  management.  As  nearly 
everything  industrial  to  which  he  laid  his  hand  in- 
volved a  large  initial  outlay,  he  made  a  practice  of 
organizing  corporations  in  which,  while  the  stock- 
holders furnished  the  necessary  funds  for  launching 
them  and  elected  their  boards  of  directors,  he  was 
before  long  the  supreme  figure.  This  system  had 
its  marked  advantages  as  far  as  simplicity  and  ease 
of  administration  were  concerned ;  it  had  some 
equally  marked  drawbacks.  Human  nature  is  so 
constituted  that  the  man  who  has  succeeded  in  all 
his  first  endeavors  is  liable  to  acquire  the  notion 
that  he  is  invincible,  and  to  be  led  into  ventures 
beyond  his  strength. 

Such  was  the  case  with  Westinghouse.  By  the 
spring  of  1890  he  was  in  control  of  concerns  which 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   "STOPPER"   LAMP      157 

were  manufacturing  air  brakes  and  switch  and  signal 
apparatus  for  steam  railroads ;  making  pioneer  ex- 
periments with  electric  railways  for  local  traffic ; 
furnishing  natural  gas  to  a  large  district  tributary 
to  Pittsburgh  ;  running  small  industrial  plants  that 
could  utilize  the  gas  effectively;  turning  out  every 
kind  of  mechanism  for  the  generation  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  alternating  electric  current ;  and  furnish- 
ing electric  illumination  to  communities  in  all  the 
American  States  and  Territories  and  in  various  other 
parts  of  both  hemispheres,  even  the  Chinese  city  of 
Canton  having  contracted  for  an  equipment.  In 
four  years  the  total  annual  sales  of  the  appliances 
produced  by  his  Electric  Company  had  grown  from 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to  four  million  dollars. 
Although  the  unwholesome  trade  situation  which 
was  developing  in  the  country  at  large  had  not  yet 
reached  its  crucial  stage,  it  was  already  threatening 
enough  to  cause  uneasiness  in  many  minds.  In  the 
midst  of  a  violent  agitation  of  the  silver  question  in 
the  United  States,  news  suddenly  came  from  England 
of  the  collapse  of  the  great  banking  house  of  the 
Baring  Brothers,  carrying  down  a  bevy  of  lesser 
concerns  and  spreading  everywhere  a  fear  of  worse 
things  still  to  come.  Mr.  Westinghouse,  who  had 
run  up  to  Lenox,  Massachusetts,  to  attend  to  a  real 
estate  purchase  there,  was  summoned  back  to  Pitts- 
burgh by  telegraph.  He  realized  at  once  that  the 
Electric  Company  was  facing  a  crisis.  His  first  act 
was  to  call  together  the  directors  and  lay  before  them 
a  scheme  of  relief  which  involved,  as  a  preliminary 
feature,  the  change  of  the  title  of  their  corporation 


158  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

to  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  and  the  doubling  of  its  capital  stock. 
The  old  shareholders  were  given  the  privilege  of  sub- 
scribing to  the  stock  at  a  price  twenty  per  cent  below 
par,  but  general  commercial  conditions  were  so 
depressing  that  the  response  fell  far  short  of  what 
he  had  hoped.  He  thereupon  invited  the  leading 
bankers  of  Pittsburgh,  who  had  profited  by  the  busi- 
ness brought  them  through  the  industries  he  had 
built  up  in  the  city  or  had  attracted  thither  from 
the  outside,  to  meet  him  for  an  informal  talk.  A 
good  many  came  ;  but  several  on  whom  he  had  most 
surely  counted  failed  him  —  one  going  so  far  as  to 
confess  to  a  friend  that  he  dared  not  expose  himself 
to  the  persuasive  influence  of  Westinghouse  face  to 
face,  for  fear  of  yielding  to  impulse  and  granting  a 
loan  which  he  would  afterward  regret. 

The  meeting  opened  with  a  brief  review  by  West- 
inghouse of  his  connection  with  local  institutions, 
laying  special  stress  on  the  growth  of  his  Electric 
Company,  which,  in  spite  of  its  temporary  embar- 
rassment, was  destined  for  a  career  of  unparalleled 
prosperity.  Then  he  set  the  sum  he  must  have  at 
once  at  a  half-million  dollars,  offering  collateral  se- 
curity for  such  an  accommodation,  including  a  mort- 
gage on  his  estate  at  Homewood,  which  had  largely 
increased  in  value  since  its  purchase  nearly  twenty 
years  before.  So  favorable  an  impression  did  he 
create  that  the  bankers  appointed  a  committee  to 
go  over  the  whole  subject  and  report  at  an  adjourned 
meeting.  The  report  was  favorable,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  half-million  desired  was  oversubscribed. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   " STOPPER"   LAMP       159 

But  just  at  this  point  one  of  the  subscribers  suggested 
that,  if  they  were  going  to  pull  the  company  out  of 
its  trouble,  they  ought  to  have  something  to  say 
about  its  conduct  thenceforward  till  it  had  discharged 
its  debt  to  them.  "Mr.  Westinghouse  wastes  so 
much  on  experimentation,  and  pays  so  liberally  for 
whatever  he  wishes  in  the  way  of  service  and  patent 
rights,"  said  the  speaker,  "  that  we  are  taking  a  pretty 
large  risk  if  we  give  him  a  free  hand  with  the  fund  he 
has  asked  us  to  raise.  We  ought  at  least  to  know 
what  he  is  doing  with  our  money." 
•  This  proposal  checked  the  rising  tide,  and  a  second 
committee  was  appointed  to  devise  a  form  of  con- 
tract which  would  bind  Westinghouse  to  share  with 
the  bankers  his  knowledge,  and  to  some  degree  his 
direction,  of  his  Company's  affairs.  A  new  program 
was  drawn  up,  making  the  loan  contingent  upon  the 
bankers'  right  to  name  the  general  manager,  and 
Westinghouse  was  invited  in  and  asked  whether  it 
was  satisfactory.  With  great  positiveness,  but  with- 
out any  show  of  resentment,  he  immediately  an- 
swered that  the  concession  demanded  was  too  vital 
for  him  to  consider,  and  candidly  stated  his  reasons. 
The  bankers  expressed  their  willingness  to  make  a 
few  modifications  of  their  plan,  but,  as  none  of  these 
covered  his  objections,  there  was  some  further  dis- 
cussion, and  it  seemed  probable  that,  if  the  meeting 
continued  much  longer,  he  would  be  able  to  get  the 
money  on  his  own  terms ;  for  he  clung  so  firmly  to 
the  view  that,  after  all  he  had  done  for  Pittsburgh, 
it  was  only  fair  that  Pittsburgh  should  do  him  a 
good  turn  when  he  needed  it,  as  to  put  compromise 


160  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

out  of  the  question.  After  a  little  more  futile  talk, 
he  announced  that  he  must  have  a  final  answer  then 
and  there.  The  bankers  gave  him  one  —  a  flat  re- 
fusal. Realizing  what  this  meant  to  him,  they 
waited  almost  breathlessly  to  note  its  effect.  To 
their  astonishment,  instead  of  being  staggered,  he 
rose  with  a  smile,  remarking;  "Well,  thank  God 
I  know  the  worst  at  last!"  And  waiting  only  long 
enough  to  tell  them  a  humorous  story  in  illustration 
of  the  unburdening  of  his  mind,  he  bade  them  good 
day  and  walked  out  of  the  room. 

That  night  he  took  train  for  New  York,  and  in  the 
morning  strode  into  the  banking  district  there, 
where  his  personal  acquaintance  was  limited,  and  the 
affairs  of  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company 
were  practically  unknown.  But  every  one  knew 
George  Westinghouse  by  reputation,  and  the  fame  of 
his  inventions,  large  as  it  had  become,  was  not  wider 
than  the  fame  of  his  resourcefulness  and  integrity 
in  business. 

The  results  of  this  errand  to  the  great  financial 
center  took  several  months  to  mature,  but  they  were 
momentous,  and  turned  what  had  seemed  a  deadly 
misfortune  into  an  opening  for  a  new  and  better 
future.  The  banking  house  of  August  Belmont  and 
Company  took  the  lead  in  forming  a  financial  syndi- 
cate so  strong  as  to  command  universal  confidence. 
Two  electric  lighting  companies  —  the  United  States 
and  the  Consolidated -- which  had  for  some  time 
been  controlled  by  the  Westinghouse  interests  under 
lease,  were  absorbed  into  the  combination,  and  their 
stockholders  allowed  to  exchange  their  present  hold- 


ORIGIN   OF  THE   "STOPPER"   LAMP      161 

ings  for  the  new  shares  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
and  Manufacturing  Company,  preferred  and  com- 
mon in  certain  proportions,  while  the  stockholders 
of  the  dominating  corporation  were  asked  to  sur- 
render forty  per  cent  of  their  old  stock  and  take 
second  preference  shares  in  the  reorganized  company 
in  lieu  of  the  remainder.  The  net  result  was  the 
reduction  of  a  total  outstanding  liability  of  more  than 
ten  million  dollars,  with  annual  interest  charges  ex- 
ceeding one  hundred  eighty  thousand  dollars,  to 
less  than  nine  million  dollars,  all  in  stock  —  thanks 
to  a  voluntary  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  stockholders 
and  the  willingness  of  the  bankers  and  creditors  con- 
cerned to  take  preferred  shares  in  an  enterprise  of  which 
the  success  must  depend  almost  wholly  on  one  man. 

This  triumph,  gratifying  as  it  was,  did  not  stir  the 
sensibilities  of  Westinghouse  half  so  deeply  as  the 
conduct  of  the  employees  of  his  original  Electric 
Company,  who,  as  soon  as  they  learned  of  the  trouble 
he  was  in,  had  come  to  him  with  the  proposal  to 
work  for  half  pay  till  he  could  get  upon  his  feet  again. 
Another  incident  which  had  warmed  his  heart  was 
a  visit  from  T.  A.  Gillespie,  the  contractor  who  drilled 
his  first  gas  well  and  had  done  a  good  deal  of  work  for 
him  in  the  past,  and  whose  latest  bills  were  still  un- 
paid. Mr.  Gillespie  called  not  only  to  say  that  these 
obligations  might  be  indefinitely  postponed,  but  to 
offer  a  loan  of  thousands  of  dollars  that  very  day  if 
it  would  help  any.  Westinghouse  declined  all  such 
tenders,  but  they  were  not  the  less  pleasing  to  him 
as  evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by 
men  who  knew  him  best  on  his  human  side. 


162  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

It  seemed  at  that  period  as  if  every  aspiring  in- 
ventor who  hit  upon,  or  dreamed  of,  a  new  idea  in 
electric  lamps,  made  it  his  first  business  to  hunt  up 
Westinghouse  as  a  possible  customer.  A  favorite 
object  of  the  vagaries  of  such  persons  was  the  fila- 
ment to  be  used  for  incandescent  lighting,  since  a 
poor  one  was  liable  to  break  with  the  slightest  jar, 
and  even  one  otherv/ise  good  might  not  endure  sub- 
jection to  the  current  for  any  length  of  time.  One 
lamp,  the  patent  rights  for  which  were  acquired 
through  the  purchase  of  the  Sawyer-Man  Company, 
formed  the  basis  of  expensive  lawsuits  in  the  United 
States  courts,  culminating  in  the  defeat  of  Westing- 
house,  the  sole  important  result  of  the  litigation 
being  to  demonstrate  which  of  the  features  in  con- 
troversy were  already  public  property.  His  ad- 
versaries in  this  fight  were  the  Edison  interests  which 
later  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  General  Electric 
Company ;  and,  as  they  had  given  him  so  much 
trouble  in  New  York,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  there  may  have  been  a  bit  of  the 
tit-for-tat  spirit  animating  his  entrance  upon  a 
contest  with  them  in  another  and  more  broadly 
conspicuous  field. 

The  Columbian  Exposition,  a  World's  Fair  de- 
signed to  celebrate  the  four-hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  discovery  of  America,  was  announced  to  be 
held  in  Chicago  in  1893,  the  postponement  of  a  year 
from  the  appropriate  date  being  deemed  advisable 
because  of  the  pendency  of  a  Presidential  campaign. 
Sealed  proposals  had  been  invited  for  lighting  the 
fair  grounds  by  electricity,  and  all  the  lighting  com- 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   "STOPPER"   LAMP      163 

panics  realized  that  the  job  would  afford  exceptional 
advertising  opportunities  to  the  contractor  whose 
work  should  be  projected  for  six  months  against  so 
artistic  a  background  of  architecture,  landscape 
gardening,  and  water  effects.  It  was  the  greatest 
single  undertaking  in  its  line  that  had  ever  been  at- 
tempted in  this  country ;  by  common  consent  there 
were  only  two  concerns  competent  to  handle  it,  the 
General  Electric  Company  and  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company ;  and  it  was 
generally  understood  that  "the  latter  was  not  among 
the  bidders. 

When  the  bids  were  opened  in  April,  1892,  it  was 
found  that  the  several  companies  of  the  General 
Electric  group  had  put  in  figures  ranging  from  $13.98 
to  $18.51  per  light.  But  there  was  also  another 
bidder  whom  nobody  would  have  suspected  of  the 
temerity  to  compete  with  these  powerful  interests. 
He  was  Charles  F.  Locksteadt,  president  of  the  South 
Side  Machine  and  Metal  Works  of  Chicago,  and  his 
offer  was  $5.49  per  light.  The  big  concerns  stood 
aghast.  Who  was  this  intruder?  Could  any  one 
of  consequence  vouch  for  his  responsibility?  Who 
would  manufacture  the  apparatus  for  him  ? 

Mr.  Locksteadt  approached  Mr.  Westinghouse, 
hoping  to  interest  him  in  the  situation,  and  in  due 
course  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company  advised  the  officials  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition  that  it  would  undertake  to  carry  out  the 
Locksteadt  bid.  After  considerable  negotiation  it 
was  agreed  that  new  bids  be  called  for.  On  opening 
these  a  bid  from  the  Westinghouse  interests  of  $5.25 


164  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

per  light  was  found  the  lowest  on  the  list,  and  West- 
inghouse  was  awarded  the  contract. 

It  was,  in  the  judgment  of  not  a  few  of  his  friends 
familiar  with  the  circumstances,  a  reckless  dive  in 
the  dark ;  and  in  strict  truth  it  was  a  profitless  ven- 
ture if  the  only  question  to  be  taken  into  account 
were  its  immediate  return  in  dollars  and  cents.  But 
the  inventor's  imagination  had  leaped  far  enough 
ahead  for  him  to  realize  that  this  was  the  opportu- 
nity of  a  lifetime  for  introducing  his  products  to  the 
notice  of  the  whole  world,  and,  as  usual,  what  he  paid 
for  such  an  advantage  was  a  secondary  consideration. 

After  the  contract  had  been  signed  and  sealed,  he 
was  faced  with  a  fresh  puzzle.  He  could  manufacture 
all  the  rest  of  the  equipment  needed,  but  where  was 
he  to  look  for  his  lamps  ?  The  Edison  combination, 
of  course,  would  not  sell  him  any,  and  they  had  the 
patent  rights  on  the  only  all-glass-globe  incandescent 
lamp  in  existence.  Though  the  validity  of  these 
rights  was  then  a  subject  of  litigation  in  the  federal 
courts,  the  decision  of  the  final  appeal  was  probably 
close  at  hand,  with  all  the  probabilities  favoring 
affirmation.  Plainly,  the  only  thing  the  contractor 
could  do  was  to  devise  some  new  kind  of  globe  or 
bulb,  which,  even  if  not  so  good  as  the  Edison  globe, 
would  suffice  for  his  present  purpose. 

What  his  ingenuity  presently  evolved  was  the 
"stopper"  lamp  —  so  called  because,  instead  of  the 
one-piece  bulb  invented  by  Edison,  it  was  made  in 
two  pieces,  the  one  that  contained  the  wire  fitting 
into  the  mouth  of  the  bulb-shaped  one  as  a  cork  fits 
into  the  mouth  of  a  bottle.  Of  course,  with  only 


ORIGIN   OF  THE   "STOPPER"   LAMP      165 

such  a  plug  to  depend  upon,  it  might  prove  impossible 
to  exclude  the  air  for  long.  If  so,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  renew  the  bulbs  frequently,  and  this  would 
have  to  be  done  by  hand  at  a  heavy  aggregate  cost. 
But  such  difficulties  were  negligible  by  comparison 
with  the  great  end  to  be  gained,  and  the  inventor 
plunged  into  his  task  with  zeal.  He  found  that  he 
could  use  soft  iron  where  the  Edison  lamp  used 
platinum,  and  in  other  ways  reduce  largely  the  cost 
of  his  bulbs.  Substantially  all  the  mechanism  used 
in  making  the  new  lamps  had  to  be  specially  designed, 
and  he  took  a  short  cut  by  setting  up  a  glass  factory 
in  Allegheny,  whither  he  used  to  go  daily  while  at 
home,  to  instruct  the  operatives  in  running  the 
grinding  machines  so  as  to  make  the  stoppers  as 
nearly  as  possible  a  perfect  fit. 

The  conclusive  decision  in  the  all-glass-globe  lamp 
patent  suit  was  in  favor  of  Edison  as  expected.  It 
was  handed  down  on  December  15,  1892,  but,  thanks 
to  the  new  invention,  caused  no  disturbance  in  the 
plans  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufac- 
turing Company  for  carrying  out  the  World's  Fair 
contract.  An  incident  did  occur,  however,  which 
illustrates  the  dramatic  guise  the  merest  chance 
may  assume. 

George  Westinghouse  was  in  New  York  City  for 
the  Christmas  season,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
twenty-third  of  December  happened  to  take  an  up- 
bound  elevated  train  in  company  with  his  friend  and 
legal  adviser  Charles  A.  Terry.  In  their  car  they 
encountered  Grosvenor  P.  Lowrey,  chief  counsel 
for  the  Edison  Electric  Light  Company  in  patent 


166  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

matters,  and  took  seats  next  to  him.  During  the  con- 
versation that  ensued,  Mr.  Lowrey  dropped  a  casual 
remark  which  indicated  that  Frederick  P.  Fish, 
another  of  the  Edison  lawyers,  was  that  day  in  Pitts- 
burgh. Immediately  Westinghouse  began  to  pay 
close  attention  to  what  the  speaker  was  saying, 
and  made  two  or  three  half-questioning  comments, 
which  in  turn  appeared  to  cause  Mr.  Lowrey  some 
embarrassment,  as  if  it  had  suddenly  struck  him  that 
perhaps  he  had  been  more  communicative  than  was 
wise.  At  Fourteenth  Street,  Westinghouse  rose, 
quietly  motioned  to  Terry  to  do  likewise,  and  the 
two  excused  themselves  to  Lowrey  and  quitted  the 
train. 

Hardly  were  they  alone  together  on  the  platform 
when  Westinghouse  plumped  at  Terry  the  question : 
"What  is  Fish  doing  in  Pittsburgh?" 

Terry  was  unable,  of  course,  to  offer  more  than  a 
guess  in  response.  Both  recalled  the  fact  that  some 
of  their  people  had  met  Fish  in  New  York  the  day 
before,  and  were  sure  that  he  uttered  no  hint  of  an 
intended  visit  to  Pittsburgh. 

"  I  can't  conceive  what  would  call  him  there, "  said 
Westinghouse,  "except  to  make  some  new  trouble 
for  us.  We  shall  have  to  act  quickly  to  head  it  off, 
whatever  it  is.  I  wish  you'd  hunt  up  Curtis  and 
Kerr  at  once  and  let  them  get  to  work."  Thomas  B. 
Kerr  and  Leonard  E.  Curtis  had  been  his  counsel 
throughout  his  lamp  litigation. 

Finding  that  Curtis  had  gone  to  his  home  in 
Englewood  for  the  night,  Terry  sought  him  there 
and  related  the  story  of  the  meeting  on  the  train  and 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  "STOPPER"   LAMP      167 

what  had  developed  from  it.  Instantly  Curtis  put 
himself  in  touch  by  wire  with  George  H.  Christy,  a 
professional  colleague  in  Pittsburgh,  warning  him 
to  look  out  for  whatever  was  in  the  wind. 

The  next  morning  when  Mr.  Fish  entered  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  Room  in  Pittsburgh, 
where  Judge  Acheson  was  to  hold  chambers,  he  was 
surprised  to  find  Christy  seated  within  the  bar. 
After  a  brief  and  rather  tense  interval  of  silence,  he 
turned  to  Christy  with  the  inquiry : 

"Have  you  a  case  on  this  morning?" 

"Nothing  on  the  calendar,"  answered  Christy 
blandly  ;  "but  I  thought  I  might  possibly  have  some- 
thing to  attend  to,  so  I  was  just  sitting  around  to 
await  events." 

The  two  lawyers  looked  each  other  over  with  a 
poor  affectation  of  indifference.  Christy  was  still 
not  quite  sure  what  the  other  lawyer  was  there  for, 
though  he  had  his  suspicions ;  while  the  latter's  eyes 
wandered  warily  toward  a  package  of  papers  in 
Christy's  hands,  of  which  he  obviously  did  not  like 
the  appearance.  Neither  had  long  to  wait  for  larger 
knowledge.  Judge  Acheson,  immediately  after  the 
formal  opening  of  the  court,  called  up  a  few  held-over 
items  of  business,  and  in  a  moment  the  secret  was 
out.  The  Edison  Company's  counsel  had,  it  ap- 
peared, on  the  day  before,  applied  for  a  restraining 
order  to  prevent  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and 
Manufacturing  Company  from  selling,  or  otherwise 
disposing  of,  its  electric  lamps,  charging  it  with  bad 
faith  in  resorting  to  a  technical  subterfuge  to  evade 
the  injunction  against  the  Sawyer-Man  lamp.  He 


i68  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

had  hoped  to  obtain  such  a  restraining  order  on  his 
presentation  of  the  case ;  the  Judge  had  expressed 
a  reluctance  to  issue  the  order  till  the  other  side  could 
be  heard,  but  had  yielded  to  counsel's  urgency  so  far 
as  to  consent  to  take  the  matter  under  consideration 
over  night.  As  a  result  of  Christy's  presentation  of 
the  facts  in  the  case,  the  matter  was  laid  over  till 
after  Christmas,  when  the  accused  company  not  only 
satisfied  the  Court  that  it  was  guiltless  of  any  at- 
tempt at  evasion,  but  followed  up  its  advantage  by 
producing  a  set  of  blue  prints  to  show  the  details  of 
the  construction  and  operation  of  the  stopper-lamp, 
which  made  it  plain  that  this  constituted  no  infringe- 
ment of  the  Edison  lamp  patents.  Although  more  or 
less  harassing  warfare  was  kept  up  afterward,  this 
unexpected  proceeding  in  court  so  far  cleared  the  way 
for  Westinghouse  that  he  was  able  to  proceed  with 
the  manufacture  of  his  lamps  and  carry  out  his  great 
undertaking  at  Chicago. 

As  I  have  suggested,  the  whole  dramatic  incident 
developed  from  mere  chance.  Had  not  Westing- 
house  and  Terry  taken  the  car  they  did  that  after- 
noon, they  would  not  have  met  Lowrey.  Had  not 
Lowrey  felt  confident  that  Fish  had  succeeded  in  his 
plan  that  morning,  he  would  have  been  too  cautious 
to  let  drop  the  remark  which  caught  Westinghouse's. 
special  attention.  Above  all,  but  for  the  wizard-like 
keenness  of  Westinghouse,  this  remark  might  have 
passed  as  casually  as  the  rest  of  the  conversation. 
Repeated  applications  for  injunctions,  even  though 
ultimately  unsuccessful,  would  have  hampered  and 
delayed  his  work  on  the  Fair  grounds,  and  rendered 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   "STOPPER"   LAMP      169 

impossible  the  first  illumination  on  the  date  fixed  in 
the  contract.  This  would  have  damaged  the  credit 
of  his  company,  and  it  had  been  a  matter  of  pride 
with  him  to  prove  to  the  world  that  since  its  re- 
organization it  was  once  more  firmly  on  its  feet. 

When  the  World's  Fair  opened  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1893,  the  Westinghouse  lighting  plant  was  one  of  the 
few  very  large  installations  that  was  complete  and 
in  place.  It  included  twelve  dynamos  ten  feet  high 
and  weighing  about  seventy-five  tons  apiece,  con- 
structed on  the  Tesla  multiphase  system.  Popular 
interest  was  divided  between  these  giant  machines, 
the  largest  of  their  kind  up  to  that  time,  and  the 
switchboard.  The  latter  was  made  of  one  thousand 
square  feet  of  marble  and  divided  into  three  sections, 
reached  by  galleries  with  spiral  iron  stairways.  It 
operated  forty  circuits,  so  articulated  that,  if  a  break 
occurred  in  any  circuit,  another  could  be  instantly 
substituted  to  do  its  w^ork.  The  switchboard  con- 
trolled two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  incandescent 
lamps  of  sixteen  candle  power,  only  one  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  of  which  were  to  be  used  at  one 
time,  the  remaining  seventy  thousand  being  a  reserve 
against  emergencies.  What  astonished  visitors  most, 
perhaps,  was  to  see  this  elaborate  mechanism  handled 
by  one  man,  who  was  constantly  in  touch,  by  tele- 
phone or  messenger,  with  every  part  of  the  grounds, 
and  responded  to  requests  of  all  sorts  by  the  mere 
turning  of  a  switch. 

The  Fair  lasted  six  months.  It  was  illuminated 
every  night,  and  with  a  success  which  received  an 
extraordinary  tribute.  The  currency  panic  of  1893 


170  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

had  swept  over  the  country  and  combined  with  a 
number  of  other  adverse  conditions  to  reduce  re- 
ceipts;  but  the  management,  though  badly  put  to 
it  at  times  to  make  both  ends  meet,  decided  that, 
whoever  else  might  have  to  wait,  there  was  one 
creditor  whose  bills  they  must  promptly  meet,  since 
by  his  enterprise  and  courage  he  had  saved  them  a 
round  million  dollars  :  that  one  was  George  Westing- 
house.  A  special  arrangement  was  therefore  made, 
whereby  he  was  to  be  paid  a  certain  sum  weekly  from 
the  current  receipts.  When  the  panic  was  passing 
through  its  most  acute  stage,  and  the  banks  were 
refusing  to  cash  checks  because  they  had  nothing  to 
cash  them  with,  the  treasury  of  the  Fair  handed  over 
to  the  local  representative  of.  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company  large  quan- 
tities of  dollars  and  half-dollars  and  quarters,  which 
were  shipped  directly  to  Pittsburgh,  and  used  to  pay 
off  the  workmen  in  the  shops  at  a  time  when  cur- 
rency was  commanding  five  per  cent  premium. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
FROM  NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY 

GREAT  as  the  World's  Fair  undertaking  was, 
George  Westinghouse  was  soon  to  be  called  to  lend 
a  hand  at  one  far  greater  —  the  harnessing  of 
Niagara's  waters  for  the  industrial  uses  of  mankind ; 
and  the  demonstration  he  made  at  Chicago  may  have 
played  no  small  part  in  the  creation  of  this  oppor- 
tunity. 

From  their  discovery  by  white  explorers  early  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  the  falls  of  Niagara  had  com- 
monly been  regarded  as  a  scenic  wonder  rather  than 
as  a  potential  agent  of  utility.  Now  and  then,  as 
the  era  of  mechanical  invention  advanced,  would 
arise  a  prophet  venturesome  enough  to  talk  about  a 
day  when  this  and  other  great  cataracts  would  be 
made  to  turn  mill  wheels  and  thus  help  feed  the 
world ;  but  such  prognostications  rarely  inspired 
any  one  to  attempt  their  fulfillment ;  and  although 
between  1847  and  1861  sundry  owners  of  land  bor- 
dering on  the  Niagara  River  diverted  water  for  hy- 
draulic power  purposes  on  a  considerable  scale,  their 
experiments  proved  financially  unsuccessful,  and 
little  more  thought  was  spent  on  the  subject  for  a 
number  of  years.  Meanwhile  the  neighborhood  of 
the  falls  had  suffered  so  at  the  hands  of  vandals  that 


172  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  State  government  had  interfered  for  the  protec- 
tion of  its  natural  beauties  by  condemning  enough 
private  property  to  make  them  the  center  of  a  public 
reservation. 

In  1886  Thomas  Evershed  of  Rochester,  a  division 
engineer  on  the  Erie  Canal,  prepared  plans  for  a 
tunnel  about  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  running  under- 
neath the  town  of  Niagara  Falls  and  parallel  to  the 
river  above  the  falls.  Near  the  upper  end  of  the 
tunnel,  canals  or  shafts  were  to  take  water  from  the 
river  and  carry  it  to  pits,  in  which,  at  a  depth  of 
150  feet,  were  to  be  placed  turbine  wheels  for  supply- 
ing power.  Having  served  the  purpose  of  turning 
the  wheels,  the  water  would  pass  into  the  tunnel, 
and  be  carried  down  to  its  mouth  a  short  distance 
below  the  falls.  Factories  were  to  be  built  within 
easy  reach  of  the  power.  And  all  this  would  be 
possible  without  impairing  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  landscape. 

Evershed's  diagrams  and  figures  attracted  much 
notice  in  the  vicinage,  where  several  well-to-do  resi- 
dents undertook  to  raise  the  sum  needed  to  construct 
the  canals,  pits,  and  tunnel,  and  install  the  wheels 
and  other  machinery.  As  a  preliminary,  they  or- 
ganized the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company  and  ob- 
tained a  charter  from  the  State  legislature.  But 
the  millions  required  were  not  readily  obtainable  in 
Western  New  York,  and  the  project  had  begun  to 
droop  when  it  occurred  to  William  Rankine,  a  young 
lawyer,  to  lay  his  documents  and  sketches  before 
Francis  Lynde  Stetson  of  New  York  City,  a  pro- 
fessional friend  with  a  large  clientele  among  men  of 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY         173 

wealth.  Before  their  interview  was  over,  Stetson 
was  so  impressed  that  he  took  the  papers  and  agreed 
to  see  what  he  could  do. 

In  his  turn,  he  opened  negotiations  with  several 
clients  of  large  means  like  Darius  O.  Mills,  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan,  Edward  D.  Adams,  and  Hamilton  McK. 
Twombley.  All  recognized  it  as  a  serious  enterprise, 
and  attended  with  many  uncertainties,  so  far  ahead 
was  it  of  anything  of  the  kind  that  had  been  at- 
tempted, but  they  concluded  to  give  it  their  support. 
As  it  was  important  that  whatever  favorable  results 
might  be  obtained  should  accrue  primarily  to  the 
projectors,  an  eligible  tract  of  land  adjacent  to  the 
river  was  purchased  and  laid  out  for  factory  sites  and 
a  model  village ;  and  the  Cataract  Construction 
Company  was  organized  to  finance  and  execute  the 
plans  finally  decided  upon. 

These  plans,  it  was  assumed,  would  in  the  main  be 
Evershed's  ;  but  experts  in  various  parts  of  the  world 
were  to  be  called  upon  to  go  over  them  item  by  item 
and  advise  the  Company  what  modifications,  if  any, 
were  desirable.  Up  to  that  point  the  broad  question 
was  still  open,  whether  the  utilization  of  Niagara 
power  could  best  be  accomplished  by  hydraulic, 
pneumatic,  or  electric  agencies.  In  June,  1890, 
Mr.  Adams,  who,  with  his  engineering  adviser, 
Doctor  Coleman  Sellers  of  Philadelphia,  had  been 
passing  a  good  deal  of  time  in  London  discussing  the 
general  subject  with  English  and  foreign  technolo- 
gists, organized  the  so-called  International  Niagara 
Commission,  with  power  to  award  twenty-two 
thousand  dollars  in  prizes  for  the  most  useful  ideas. 


174  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

The  commission,  which  had  for  its  chairman  Sir 
William  Thomson,  later  raised  to  the  peerage  as 
Lord  Kelvin,  for  its  secretary  Professor  William  Caw- 
thorne  Unwin,  Dean  of  the  Central  Institute  of 
Guilds  of  the  City  of  London,  and  in  its  membership 
men  of  such  eminence  as  Doctor  Sellers,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Theodore  Turretini  of  Geneva,  and  Professor 
E.  Mascart  of  the  College  of  France,  invited  the 
British  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company  and  sundry  other  large  concerns  to  submit 
competitive  plans,  the  principal  prize  offered  being 
three  thousand  dollars.  Lewis  B.  Stillwell  of  the 
American  company,  who  chanced  to  be  in  London 
at  the  time,  believed  that  the  polyphase  alternating 
current  system  offered  the  most  practical  key  to  the 
situation,  and  was  anxious  to  get  permission  to  put 
in  a  bid  for  the  British  company,  but  Westinghouse 
refused,  explaining  later  that  the  prize  offered  was 
an  entirely  inadequate  sum  to  pay  for  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  advice,  and  adding  : 
"When  the  Niagara  people  are  ready  to  do  business, 
we  shall  make  them  a  proposal." 

The  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company  had 
been  sadly  hampered  in  its  commercial  development 
of  the  polyphase  system  during  1890  and  1891  by  the 
financial  difficulties  with  which  it  had  to  contend, 
but  in  1892  it  constructed  two  one-hundred-fifty- 
horse-power  rotary  converters,  and  Westinghouse 
invited  the  Cataract  Construction  Company  to  send 
its  engineers  to  Pittsburgh  to  inspect  and  test  these 
machines.  Doctor  Sellers  and  Professor  Henry  A. 
Rowland  responded,  and  George  Forbes,  one  of  the 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY          175 

foremost  electricians  of  England,  came  at  another 
time.  All  three  were  much  impressed  --  especially 
Forbes,  who  more  than  a  year  before  had  put  himself 
on  record,  in  connection  with  the  submission  of  a 
project  covering  the  engineering  work  on  the  new 
enterprise,  in  favor  of  using  the  alternating  current. 
But  even  so  eminent  an  authority  was  unable  to 
bring  the  rest  of  the  Construction  Company's  ad- 
visers to  his  view,  and  at  the  outset  all  voted  to  con- 
demn and  reject  the  alternating  system,  except 
Forbes  himself  and  an  electrician  from  Buda-Pesth. 
Forbes  never  wavered  for  a  moment,  and  finally 
turned  the  tide  of  preference  by  proving  the  pro- 
hibitive cost  of  a  continuous  current  installation. 
Of  the  whole  group  of  experts  consulted,  Lord  Kelvin 
was  the  only  one  who  still  held  out  in  opposition. 
Some  time  afterward  he  cabled  the  Construction 
Company,  reasserting  his  loyalty  to  his  original  judg- 
ment, but  admitting  that  the  company  "  could  cer- 
tainly succeed  with  the  alternating  current. "  And 
still  later,  when  practical  trials  had  proved  his  ap- 
prehensions vain,  he  candidly  confessed  that  the 
alternating  current  "  alone  solves  the  problem  well 
and  economically." 

On  October  24,  1893,  as  the  result  of  a  spirited 
competition  with  the  General  Electric  Company,  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company 
was  awarded  a  contract  for  three  mammoth  gen- 
erators. Westinghouse  took  a  very  active  part  per- 
sonally in  the  direction  of  the  work  at  Pittsburgh, 
and  in  less  than  eighteen  months  the  first  five-thou- 
sand-horse-power turbo-alternator  unit  operated  by 


1 76  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

hydraulic  power  was  in  place  and  in  working  order, 
with  a  capacity  which  proved  capable  of  doing  even 
more  than  the  contract  called  for,  yielding  five 
thousand,  one  hundred  thirty-five  horse  power  — • 
nearly  three  per  cent  above  the  demand. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  access  of  enthusiasm  which  fol- 
lowed the  assurance  that  something  had  at  last  been 
begun  toward  utilizing  power  from  the  Niagara  River, 
all  central  New  York  gave  itself  up  for  a  time  to  a 
revel  in  electric  promotion.  Companies  were  or- 
ganized on  every  side  to  buy  and  sell  locally  the 
power  which  was  to  be  transmitted  from  the  falls, 
and  plans  were  drawn  for  the  storage  stations  which 
were  to  serve  as  media  in  the  scheme.  A  message 
of  Governor  Flower  to  the  legislature  had  advocated, 
in  the  interest  of  economical  transportation,  the 
substitution  of  electricity  for  draft  mules  as  a  motive 
power  on  the  Erie  Canal,  and  a  law  had  been  passed 
appropriating  ten  thousand  dollars  for  experimenta- 
tion in  this  field.  The  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Works  negotiated  with  Westinghouse  for  an  equip- 
ment for  a  first  test,  to  cost  five  thousand  dollars  if 
necessary,  the  State  and  the  inventor  dividing  the 
expense  equally  between  them.  Trolley  wires  were 
strung  along  the  banks,  and,  as  the  Niagara  project 
was  still  all  on  paper,  power  for  the  test  was  obtained 
from  the  Rochester  street  railway  company. 

On  May  18,  1893,  an  old  canal  boat,  fitted  with 
apparatus  like  that  on  a  trolley  car,  was  started  for 
a  demonstrative  trip  of  one  mile.  It  passed  through 
locks  and  around  curves,  making  an  average  rate  of 
about  five  miles  an  hour,  or  within  one  mile  of  the 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY         177 

lawful  speed  limit  on  canals.  The  Governor,  several 
other  State  officers,  and  prominent  citizens,  as  well 
as  Westinghouse  and  some  of  his  leading  subordi- 
nates, were  passengers,  and  nearly  all  pronounced 
the  case  for  electric  propulsion  well  proved.  But 
there  remained  a  few  doubters  who  protested  that, 
after  a  boat  had  been  drawn  by  trolley  from  Buffalo 
to  the  Hudson  River,  it  must  still  be  towed  down 
to  New  York.  This  criticism  having  been  duly 
threshed  out,  the  thoughts  of  every  one  were  diverted 
from  trolley  propulsion  to  individual  motors,  and 
gradually,  after  a  period  of  fruitless  experiments, 
interest  in  the  canal  project  died  of  inanition.  The 
Niagara  enterprise  prospered,  however,  and  for  years 
thereafter  the  Power  Company  was  a  frequent  cus- 
tomer of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manu- 
facturing Company,  which  installed  unit  after  unit 
until  ten  huge  generators  were  in  place,  with  an 
aggregate  capacity  of  fifty-five  thousand  horse  power. 
Of  what  has  grown  out  of  these  beginnings,  a  few 
figures  will  give  us  a  suggestion.  Today  there  are 
power  houses  on  the  American  and  Canadian  sides 
having  a  combined  capacity  already  installed  of 
over  two  hundred  thousand,  with  additional  plants 
under  construction.  By  means  of  transformers  situ- 
ated near  the  power  houses,  and  the  use  of  overhead 
and  subway  lines  according  to  their  respective 
adaptation,  electricity  is  distributed  for  lighting, 
power,  and  heating  purposes  over  nearly  the  entire 
western  and  middle  parts  of  New  York  State,  and 
as  far  east  as  Syracuse.  Development  has  not  yet 
ceased,  and  although  restricted  to  some  degree  by 


178  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

legislation,  no  one  would  venture  now  to  define  the 
lengths  to  which  it  may  go  before  it  ceases.  The  city 
of  Niagara  Falls,  which  contained  about  ten  thousand 
population  when  ground  was  first  broken  for  the 
mammoth  power  enterprise,  has  now  thirty-five 
thousand,  and  in  the  same  interval  its  real  estate 
has  increased  in  assessed  valuation  from  seven  mil- 
lion to  thirty-two  million  dollars.  Most  of  this 
advance  can  reasonably  be  attributed  to  the  influence, 
direct  and  indirect,  of  the  industrial  awakening  due 
to  the  Niagara  power  enterprise.  In  what  measure 
the  neighboring  communities  affected  have  profited 
likewise  is  less  readily  determined,  as  they  have  had 
other  resources  than  the  great  waterfall  to  draw  upon. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  versatility  of  Westing- 
house's  mind,  it  is  worth  noting  that,  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  hubbub  attendant  upon  the  reorganization 
of  his  Electric  company,  the  crisis  in  the  lamp  con- 
troversy, the  lighting  of  the  World's  Fair,  and  the 
installations  at  Niagara,  he  never  became  so  absorbed 
in  any  of  these  concerns  as  to  let  his  interest  slacken 
in  others.  His  experience  in  building  up  a  natural 
gas  industry  in  Pittsburgh  had  moved  him  to  study 
the  possibilities  of  the  production  of  economical 
power  by  the  use  of  a  gas  engine,  since  its  efficiency 
as  a  prime  mover  when  using  natural  gas  was  far 
superior  to  that  of  the  best  steam  engines  of  that 
period.  Even  with  a  manufactured  fuel  gas,  con- 
taining less  heat  than  natural  gas,  there  was  a  decided 
advantage  in  respect  to  the  cost  of  fuel  when  used  in 
a  gas  engine.  But  gas  engines  had  not  then  been 
designed  of  sufficient  size  to  meet  the  requirements 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY          179 

for  large  powers  necessary  for  their  advantageous 
use,  particularly  for  the  production  of  electricity, 
and  their  speed  regulation  was  not  sufficiently  ac- 
curate to  produce  the  uniform  rotary  motion  neces- 
sary for  the  production  of  electric  current.  In  his 
usual  energetic  and  comprehensive  manner,  he  de- 
signed and  successfully  built  gas  engines  of  more  than 
three  hundred  horse  power  with  a  system  of  regulation 
that  furnished  a  uniform  rotative  speed,  thus  solving 
the  problem  of  the  successful  production  of  electric 
current  by  gas-engine  power.  The  gas-engine  de- 
velopment ultimately  resulted  in  the  manufacture, 
by  the  Westinghouse  Machine  Company,  of  engines 
of  more  than  five  thousand  horse  power  that  found 
their  principal  uses  in  blast  furnaces  and  rolling  mills. 

Westinghouse  had  given  a  great  deal  of  attention 
to  the  subject  of  the  manufacture  of  fuel  gas  from 
coal,  and  in  connection  with  the  gas-engine  develop- 
ment he  designed  and  built  experimentally  many 
forms  of  gas  producers,  seeking  to  develop  a  type 
that  would  make  gas  from  soft  coal  by  a  process 
which  avoided  the  many  difficulties  arising  from  the 
by-products  and  impurities  contained  in  the  coal. 
As  the  result  of  years  of  effort,  he  finally  evolved  a 
form  that  met  demands  in  a  very  practical  way.  In 
his  larger  effort,  however,  to  discover  a  process  for 
manufacturing  gas  at  a  cost  and  of  a  quality  that 
could  be  profitably  sold  and  distributed  in  competi- 
tion with  coal  for  heating  and  power  purposes,  he 
was  not  successful. 

A  notion  Westinghouse  kept  in  mind  in  perfecting 
the  gas  engine  was  that  it  would  one  day  supplant 


1 8o  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  steam  engine  because  of  its  great  fuel  economy, 
comparative  freedom  from  offensive  qualities,  and 
the  ease  with  which,  in  connection  with  apparatus 
for  generating  and  conveying  an  electric  current, 
the  engine  and  producer  could  be  placed  wherever 
coal  could  most  conveniently  be  received  and  stored. 
He  thought  that  by  setting  up  generating  stations, 
with  gas  engines,  at  intervals  of  ten  or  twenty  miles, 
long  railroads  could  be  run  by  electricity ;  and  an 
electric  locomotive  capable  of  hauling  twenty  or 
thirty  cars  could  thus  be  operated  by  one  man,  with 
a  current  simultaneously  used  for  lighting  tracks, 
running  machinery  and  shops,  pumping  water, 
handling  freight  at  stations,  lighting  and  heating 
trains,  and  the  like. 

The  subject  of  electrifying  street  railroads,  also, 
strongly  stirred  his  interest  at  this  juncture.  The 
popular  demand  for  rapid  transit  was  loud  in  every 
large  city.  Cable  lines  had  fallen  into  disfavor ; 
overhead  trolleys  were  unsightly,  and  no  satisfactory 
underground  system  had  yet  been  reduced  to  what 
seemed  reasonable  bounds  of  cost.  But  an  unper- 
fected  invention  had  been  brought  to  his  notice 
which  he  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  and  thought  in 
developing.  It  was  commonly  known  as  the  "button 
system",  because  its  visible  factors  were  the  button- 
like  heads  of  iron  pins  which  appeared  in  pairs  at 
seven-foot  intervals  between  the  tracks,  raised  a 
trifle  above  the  surface  of  the  roadway.  Every  pair 
were  connected  with  electrical  conductors,  leading  to 
electro-magnetic  switches  alongside  of  the  track, 
which  in  their  turn  were  connected  with  a  main 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY         181 

electric  line  laid  in  a  conduit  just  beneath  the  pave-^ 
ment  and  fed  from  a  power  station  like  a  trolley. 
Under  every  car  were  carried  two  iron  bars,  projecting 
from  its  bottom  like  the  prongs  of  a  tuning  fork ; 
and  only  when  these  bars  were  in  contact  with  two 
corresponding  buttons  was  the  circuit  completed 
that  propelled  the  car.  At  all  other  times  the  buttons 
were  inert  and  harmless.  The  button  system  had 
the  advantage  of  the  underground  trolley  now  so 
widely  used,  that  it  required  no  greater  depth  of 
excavation  than  the  ties. 

While  he  was  studying  this  device,  the  directors 
of  the  Manhattan  Elevated  Railway  system  began 
discussing  the  question  of  changing  its  motive  power 
from  steam  to  electricity,  and  a  majority  inclined 
strongly  to  such  a  change  if  they  could  have  any 
assurance  of  what  would  be  the  wisest  plan  of  elec- 
trification to  adopt.  Westinghouse  was  consulted 
by  Russell  Sage,  but,  firmly  as  he  believed  that  elec- 
trification of  all  railways  was  coming  in  due  season, 
he  was  loath  to  advise  an  early  change.  Just  what 
he  had  in  mind  in  discouraging  immediate  action 
did  not  at  once  appear,  though  later  he  brought  out 
his  idea  of  using  gas  engines  for  running  the  gener- 
ators. The  matter  was  postponed  as  he  suggested ; 
a  few  years  afterward  it  was  taken  up  with  him  again, 
he  having  in  the  interval  received  a  contract  for 
equipping  an  underground  trolley  for  the  Third 
Avenue  surface  railway,  which  had  been  run  by  cable. 
When  the  Manhattan  directors  had  finally  decided 
what  they  wanted,  they  called  upon  him  to  submit 
plans  for  the  heavy  generating  machinery  for  a  new 


1 32  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

power  house,  and  for  the  apparatus  for  substations. 
Other  large  manufacturers  and  contractors  were  in- 
vited to  do  the  same ;  but  the  Westinghouse  plans, 
after  a  searching  analysis  by  a  board  of  engineering 
experts,  were  accepted  as  the  best  offered,  and  won 
the  award  of  a  contract  mounting  well  up  into  the 
millions,  and  calling  among  other  things  for  eight 
three-phase  alternating  generators  of  six  thousand 
six  hundred  fifty  horse-power  capacity  apiece  — 
the  largest  ever  constructed  till  then.  The  alter- 
nating current  was  to  be  conveyed  from  the  main 
power  house  to  the  substations,  and  there  reduced 
by  step-down  converters  to  a  direct  current  of  five 
hundred  volts  for  feeding  to  a  third  rail. 

The  third  rail  never  found  an  enthusiastic  cham- 
pion in  Westinghouse.  Though  appreciating  its 
great  possibilities  as  a  means  of  propelling  trains,  he 
was  always  mindful  of  its  menace  to  human  life. 
Since  it  was  going  to  be  used  in  any  event,  he  sug- 
gested its  division  into  sections,  with  provisions  for 
the  automatic  supply  of  the  requisite  current  to 
these  in  turn,  as  the  train  moved.  Even  with  such 
precautions  he  regarded  the  rail  as  only  a  dangerous 
makeshift,  and  insisted  that  what  the  elevated  roads 
ought  to  have  done  was  to  use  the  overhead  trolley 
instead  —  not  the  fragile  and  disfiguring  construction 
too  commonly  met  with,  but  a  substantially  built 
line,  of  inoffensive  appearance.  The  managers  of 
the  Manhattan  railway  were  not  ready  to  credit  his 
apprehensions.  Time  has  pretty  well  demonstrated 
that  this  was  one  of  the  rare  instances  where  his 
matured  judgment  in  the  electrical  manufacturing 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE  NAVY          183 

field  was  at  fault ;  and  to  this  day  the  third  rail  con- 
tinues the  Manhattan's  sole  dependence  for  motive 
power. 

In  spite  of  activities  such  as  these,  Westinghouse 
still  found  time  to  examine  the  merits  of  a  type  of 
steam  turbine  developed  by  the  Honorable  Charles 
Algernon  Parsons  of  London,  and  ultimately  obtained 
authority  to  manufacture  under  the  Parsons  patents 
in  the  United  States.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the 
first  invention  patented  by  Westinghouse  was  a 
rotary  engine,  and  throughout  his  life,  until  the  last 
ten  or  twelve  years,  he  devoted  much  time  and 
thought  as  well  as  large  sums  of  money  to  an  effort 
to  produce  an  engine  of  the  rotary  type  that  would 
meet  his  ideals  with  respect  to  efficiency,  simplicity, 
and  cheap  production.  His  efforts  did  not  cease 
until  he  became  interested  in  the  steam  turbine,  in 
which  he  recognized  a  form  of  rotary  steam  engine 
that  solved  his  problem  of  so  many  years. 

In  its  earlier  stages,  the  Parsons  turbine  had  been 
used  to  drive  electric  generators  for  the  purpose  of 
lighting  ships,  and,  about  the  time  that  Westinghouse 
procured  the  foreign  rights,  Parsons  had  fitted  a 
vessel  called  the  Turbinia  with  one  of  his  engines 
from  which  remarkable  speed  performances  were 
obtained,  thus  indicating  its  possible  adaptation  to 
further  marine  purposes.  The  Parsons  designs  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Westinghouse  were  the  result  of  Eng- 
lish practice,  and  not  adapted  to  the  conditions  under 
which  it  was  desired  to  develop  this  type  of  prime 
mover  in  the  United  States.  Under  Westinghouse's 
direction,  important  constructional  changes  were 


1 84  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

made  and  suitable  electric  generators  designed,  so 
that  the  combined  outfit  was  put  upon  the  market 
to  supply  electricity  for  light  and  power.  In  the 
original  form  the  speeds  of  the  Parsons  machines 
had  been  very  high  and  their  efficiency  rather  low ; 
in  the  form  developed  by  Westinghouse,  both  features 
were  so  improved  that  the  machines  compared 
favorably  with  the  best  type  of  reciprocating  steam 
engine  in  the  matter  of  efficiency,  weighed  much  less, 
occupied  much  smaller  space,  and  required  less  care 
and  attention  in  their  operation. 

The  development  of  the  steam  turbine  in  the  last 
few  years  has  been  accompanied  by  almost  astounding 
results.  Single  units  of  more  than  75,000  horse 
power  are  in  operation  and  still  larger  sizes  in  con- 
templation. The  thermal  efficiency  of  the  later 
machines  has  reached  a  point  which  engineers  not 
many  years  ago  regarded  as  unattainable.  The 
results  in  gains  to  the  public  at  large  from  these 
advances  are  of  marked  value,  as  evidenced  by  the 
wide  extension  of  distributed  electric  power  at  rela- 
tively low  cost,  so  that  many  forms  of  mechanism 
of  great  utility  and  contributing  to  domestic  comfort 
are  made  available.  For  practically  all  purposes, 
other  forms  of  prime  movers  have  been  displaced  as 
the  result  of  the  availability  of  cheap  and  convenient 
electric  power.  The  gas  engine,  which  at  one  time 
seemed  to  have  an  important  future,  has  been  for 
the  present  relegated  to  a  minor  position  in  the 
matter  of  power  production. 

One  of  the  possibilities  which  impressed  the  mind 
of  Westinghouse  in  developing  the  turbine  for  marine 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE   NAVY          185 

uses  was  this :  if  the  same  propulsive  power  could 
be  got  from  an  engine  occupying  only  a  fraction  of 
the  space  required  by  the  engines  then  in  use  in  ships, 
there  would  be  more  room  for  the  coal  bunkers, 
which  in  turn  meant  a  wider  steaming  radius,  letting 
a  vessel  stay  longer  out  of  port  without  resorting  to 
coaling  at  sea ;  and  if  these  advantages  could  be 
obtained  without  the  vibration  or  thumping  of 
reciprocating  engines,  the  machinery  would  last 
longer  and  would  need  less  frequent  repairs.  In 
order  to  make  sure  that  he  was  on  the  right  track, 
he  called  into  consultation  Rear-Admiral  Melville, 
a  retired  engineer-in-chief  of  the  navy,  and  one  of 
his  most  experienced  associates,  John  H.  Macalpine, 
and  set  them  to  work  at  a  laborious  investigation  of 
the  whole  subject. 

Their  first  report  was  not  encouraging.  The 
trouble  with  the  turbine  was  that  it  did  not  too  little, 
but  altogether  too  much.  Its  greatest  economic 
efficiency,  they  said,  was  at  high  speed,  whereas  that 
of  the  propeller  was  at  a  comparatively  low  rate  of 
revolution.  If  the  propeller  were  driven  too  fast,  it 
simply  cut  holes  in  the  water  instead  of  pushing  the 
ship  along ;  but  to  reduce  the  speed  of  the  turbine 
below  a  certain  degree  involved  a  great  waste  of 
energy,  and  to  drop  it  still  lower  rendered  it  incapable 
of  running  the  propeller.  So  the  problem  narrowed 
down  to  the  discovery  of  a  means  of  using  a  high- 
speed engine  to  drive  a  low-speed  propeller  and  yet 
conserve  the  force  of  both  to  the  utmost.' 

This  Melville  and  Macalpine  accomplished  by  an 
invention  that  made  practicable  the  use  of  gearing 


186  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

to  connect  the  turbine  with  the  propeller  shaft,  the 
gears  being  so  proportioned  as  to  permit  each  element 
to  run  at  its  most  efficient  speed.  While  gearing  had 
formerly  been  employed  to  a  limited  extent  for  some- 
what similar  purposes,  no  general  success  had  at- 
tended the  effort  to  make  it  applicable  to  the  large 
powers  necessary  in  marine  propulsion.  The  Mel- 
ville-Macalpine  system  employs  what  is  technically 
described  as  a  "floating  frame",  one  element  of  the 
general  arrangement  that  carries  the  pinions  trans- 
mitting the  power  from  the  turbine  to  the  main  gears 
driving  the  propeller.  The  floating  frame  is  so  de- 
signed as  automatically  to  maintain  perfect  alignment 
between  the  teeth  of  the  pinions  and  gears,  the  work- 
ing pressures  of  the  contacting  teeth  being  thus 
limited  to  a  degree  that  prevents  destructive  wear. 
The  Machine  Company,  under  the  direction  of  West- 
inghouse,  built  an  experimental  set  of  gears  capable 
of  transmitting  seventy-five  hundred  horse  power. 
These  operated  successfully,  and,  when  placed  in  the 
United  States  collier  Neptune,  realized  all  the  ex- 
pectations of  the  inventors  and  of  Westinghouse, 
who  had  made  important  contributions  to  the  basic 
scheme. 

Since  this  successful  installation,  the  use  of  gears 
has  become  almost  universal  in  the  newer  naval  ves- 
sels, and  their  employment  in  connection  with  the 
highly  efficient  steam  turbines  now  available  marks 
a  most  important  advance  in  the  art  of  marine  pro- 
pulsion. It  is  worth  noting,  moreover,  that  the  ex- 
perimental development  of  the  Melville-Macalpine 
invention  was  carried  on  by  Mr.  Westinghouse  during 


FROM   NIAGARA  TO  THE   NAVY          187 

the  receivership  period  of  the  Machine  Company, 
against  the  strong  opposition  of  the  engineering  and 
financial  directors  of  the  Company  at  that  time. 

There  was  included  in  the  Neptune  experiment, 
a  most  ingenious  invention  of  H.  T.  Herr,  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  Machine  Company,  by  means  of  which 
the  pilot  or  steersman  was  given  entire  control  over 
the  propelling  machinery  without  the  intervention 
of  manual  operation  in  the  engine  room.  The  opera- 
tions of  starting,  stopping,  speed  regulation,  and 
reversing  were  effected  directly  from  the  pilot  house ; 
and,  though  the  mechanism  worked  as  designed,  the 
innovation  was  so  radical  that  it  was  regarded  askance 
by  most  naval  men,  who  knew  only  the  old  method 
of  giving  the  engineer  his  orders  through  speaking 
tubes  and  bells.  It  will  be  taking  no  great  risk  in 
prophecy  to  assert  that  the  more  modern  method  of 
control  will  presently  come  into  general  use.  Its 
advantages,  particularly  in  the  manipulation  of  ves- 
sels engaged  in  battle  or  threatened  with  collision, 
are  obvious  even  to  the  popular  mind.  In  not  a  few 
respects  it  parallels  on  the  water  the  instantaneous 
mastery  of  his  train  by  the  locomotive  driver  in  his 
cab,  with  the  lever  of  his  air  brake  within  reach  of 
his  hand. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM" 

As  we  have  already  seen,  George  Westinghouse 
had  no  notion  of  confining  his  activities  to  the  coun- 
try of  his  home,  but  from  the  hour  of  his  first  success 
began  to  lay  plans  covering  the  civilized  world. 
Wherever  he  saw  a  possible  opening,  however  re- 
mote, he  lost  no  time  about  arranging  for  its  occupa- 
tion. In  this  way,  while  keeping  Pittsburgh  for  their 
permanent  base,  his  various  industries  established 
outposts  in  all  the  leading  countries  of  Europe. 

As  early  as  1888  he  had  obtained  a  contract  for 
an  electric  plant  capable  of  lighting  a  considerable 
area  in  London.  Everything  for  this  purpose  was 
manufactured  in  Pittsburgh  and  shipped  over. 
Other  contracts  which  followed,  extending  into  vari- 
ous lines  of  electrical  equipment,  were  handled  in 
the  ^  same  way.  By  1897  the  English  orders  had 
mounted  in  multitude  so  as  to  arouse  an  inquiry 
in  both  countries  whether  the  supplies  could  not 
be  more  promptly  and  economically  furnished  if 
there  were  a  factory  on  the  ground,  especially  as 
England  was  taking  kindly  to  rapid  transit  by  trolley 
on  the  American  plan,  and  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
and  Manufacturing  Company  was  recognized  as  a 


"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM"     189 

source  from  which  to  procure  the  very  latest  inven- 
tions. A  group  of  prominent  Englishmen  interested 
in  engineering  enterprises  accepted  directorships 
in  the  British  branch,  which  was  enlarged  in  scope 
and  heavily  capitalized,  and  a  tract  of  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  land  was  bought  at 
Trafford  Park,  on  the  outskirts  of  Manchester, 
adjoining  the  ship  canal  and  with  abundant  rail- 
road facilities,  as  a  site  for  the  works.  These  were 
to  cover  thirty  acres  under  roof ;  and,  as  it  was  a 
part  of  Westinghouse's  plan  to  house  his  men  as 
well  as  hire  them,  a  building  company  laid  out  a 
somewhat  smaller  tract  near  by  as  a  residence  town. 

Under  the  new  organization,  the  British  company 
was  to  receive  from  the  American  company  the 
rights  for  the  British  Empire,  exclusive  of  Canada, 
in  all  the  Westinghouse  electric  patents  then  exist- 
ing, and  all  that  might  be  issued  during  the  follow- 
ing ten  years.  The  two  corporations  were  to  co- 
operate in  every  way.  The  articles  of  incorporation 
of  the  British  company  were  made  so  broad  as  to 
include  power  to  conduct  pretty  nearly  any  sort  of 
business  it  wished  to,  from  running  a  hotel  and  rent- 
ing dwellings  to  managing  schools  and  banks,  so 
that,  in  standing  sponsor  for  its  undertakings,  the 
American  company  was  laying  itself  liable  to  a  good 
many  vicissitudes. 

Though  assigning  the  supervision  of  the  plans  and 
the  preparation  of  the  estimates  to  his  own  engineers, 
Westinghouse  made  a  strong  point,  from  politic 
considerations,  of  having  only  British  labor  employed 
in  the  actual  work  of  building  the  shops.  A  Man- 


190  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Chester  contractor  was  engaged  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions, and  a  London  contractor  to  put  up  the  steel 
framework,  but  neither  was  willing  to  predict  when 
his  share  of  the  task  would  be  finished.  Several 
weeks  passed  before  the  first  spadeful  of  earth  was 
turned,  and  fully  six  months  before  the  foundations 
had  reached  a  stage  where  the  steel  men  could  attack 
the  superstructure.  Meanwhile  the  orders  were 
piling  up,  and  the  dates  fixed  when  they  must  be 
filled  left  only  eighteen  months'  leeway  for  rearing 
nine  huge  buildings.  The  situation  was  exasper- 
ating. Winter  was  drawing  near,  and  the  best 
the  contractors  would  venture  to.  guess  was  five 
years  for  the  completion  of  the  job.  Then  some- 
thing happened. 

Coming  over  from  New  York  to  Pittsburgh  one 
night,  Westinghouse  found  on  his  train  James  C. 
Stewart,  a  member  of  a  contracting  firm  who  had 
performed  some  wonderfully  rapid  and  effective 
services  for  him  in  the  past,  and  in  the  course  of 
their  conversation  the  Trafford  Park  delays  came 
up  for  comment.  On  arriving  in  Pittsburgh  the 
following  morning,  Stewart  went  at  once  to  West- 
inghouse's  office  and  looked  over  the  plans.  He 
seemed  to  see  something  deliciously  humorous  in 
the  five-years'  suggestion  of  the  British  contractors. 

"With  the  right  management,"  was  his  verdict, 
after  a  little  calculation,  "there  is  no  reason  why 
that  work  should  take  more  than  fifteen  months." 

"Would  you  undertake  to  finish  it  in  that  time?" 
asked  Westinghouse. 

"On  my  own  terms  --  yes." 


"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM"     191 

The  terms  were  such  as  to  insure  to  Stewart 
rather  magnificent  profits,  but  Westinghouse  accepted 
his  proposal.  He  had  now  got  hold  of  a  man  after 
his  own  heart,  and  a  contract  was  signed  at  once. 
This  was  in  January,  1901.  Stewart  caught  the 
next  steamer  for  Liverpool,  landing  on  the  twenty- 
fourth.  He  had  never  been  in  England  before,  but 
he  hastened  to  Manchester,  looked  over  the  ground, 
and  cabled  to  two  of  his  best  American  assistants 
to  join  him.  Though  a  thousand  miles  apart  when 
his  message  reached  them,  they  met  aboard  ship  on 
the  first  of  February.  When  their  vessel  stopped 
off  Queenstown  they  learned  that  Stewart  was 
about  starting  back  to  America  to  get  his  mechani- 
cal supplies,  so  they  hired  a  tender  and  went  out  to 
meet  him.  As  his  steamer  came  up,  there  he  was, 
leaning  over  the  rail.  In  another  minute  there 
landed  on  their  deck  a  fat  package  of  papers,  which 
on  opening  they  discovered  to  be  their  working 
orders  written  out  to  the  minutest  detail,  so  that 
when  they  reached  Manchester  the  next  day  they 
had  only  to  hasten  to  Trafford  Park  and  plunge 
into  their  task. 

Stewart  was  absent  from  England  three  weeks. 
By  that  time  he  had  collected  the  American  ma- 
chinery and  implements  he  needed,  and  ten  more 
assistants  —  young  men  whom  he  had  thoroughly 
trained  in  his  way  of  doing  business.  With  his 
little  staff  he  went  at  things  in  true  Yankee  fashion. 
A  month  or  more  the  whole  party  worked  not  only 
all  day  but  far  into  the  night,  snatching  a  bite  of 
food  how  and  when  they  could,  and  contenting 


192  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

themselves  with  four  or  five  hours'  sleep  in  order 
to  rise  at  six  and  repeat  the  performance. 

It  was  a  strenuous  life,  but  it  paid.  The  laborers 
at  work  when  Stewart  took  hold  numbered  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty ;  within  a  month  he  had  a 
force  of  twenty-five  hundred  which  he  gradually 
increased  to  nearly  four  thousand.  He  looked 
after  everything  personally,  substituting  American 
methods  for  British  wherever  time  could  be  saved. 
He  ran  a  line  of  track  from  the  nearest  railway  freight 
station  to  the  grounds,  and  spurs  of  this  into  every 
building,  thus  bringing  in  between  two  and  three 
hundred  carloads  of  material  a  day.  He  furnished 
the  steel  workers  with  automatic  riveters  to  super- 
sede the  tedious  manual  labor  they  had  been  doing, 
and  thus  more  than  quadrupled  their  speed.  He 
replaced  the  human  hodcarriers  with  stearn  hoists 
for  lifting  bricks  and  mortar  to  any  story  of  the 
buildings,  and  showed  the  bricklayers  with  his 
own  hands  how  to  lay  from  eighteen  hundred  to 
twenty-five  hundred  brick  a  day  instead  of  the  five  or 
six  hundred  they  had  been  accustomed  to  lay,  pay- 
ing them  a  penny  an  hour  more  than  their  usual  wages 
when  they  imitated  him.  By  a  little  encouragement 
distributed  here  and  there,  he  managed  to  infuse 
into  the  whole  undertaking  so  much  of  the  spirit 
which  characterized  all  Westinghouse  work  at  home, 
that  he  had  eight  of  the  nine  buildings  ready  for 
occupancy  in  ten  months,  and  the  ninth  as  soon  as 
some  belated  changes  in  the  plans  made  it  possible. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  there  entered  into 
the  construction  twelve  million  feet  of  lumber,  ten 


11  BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON   HIM"     193 

million  brick,  fifteen  thousand  tons  of  steel,  one 
hundred  seventy-five  thousand  feet  of  glass,  and 
forty  thousand  square  yards  of  paving ;  that  the 
cost  ran  well  above  a  million  dollars,  of  which  Brit- 
ish wage-earners  received  the  largest  benefit ;  that 
the  whole  performance  under  American  direction 
consumed  less  than  one  fifth  of  the  time  estimated 
for  it  by  the  British  contractors  consulted  ;  and  that 
the  first  big  job  to  which  the  new  establishment 
addressed  itself  was  the  electrification  of  the  Met- 
ropolitan District  and  Underground  Railways  of 
London  —  an  improvement  of  which  the  gross  cost 
was  twenty-five  million  dollars  —  it  seems  scarcely 
wonderful  that  the  press  of  the  world  was  soon 
ringing  with  "the  Westinghouse  Invasion  of  Eng- 
land." 

Many  honors  came  to  George  Westinghouse  in 
the  course  of  his  busy  life.  Union  College,  his 
alma  mater,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Philosophy.  The  Koenigliche  Technische  Hoch- 
schule  of  Berlin  made  him  a  Doctor  of  Engineer- 
ing. France  took  him  into  her  Legion  of  Honor, 
King  Humbert  decorated  him  with  the  Order  of  the 
Crown  of  Italy,  and  he  received  the  Order  of  Leo- 
pold of  Belgium  from  the  hands  of  King  Leopold  II 
in  person.  The  Franklin  Institute,  within  a  few 
years  of  his  first  success,  awarded  him  the  Scott 
premium  and  medal  for  his  improvements  in  air 
brake  construction.  He  was  the  first  American 
to  receive  from  the  Society  of  German  Engineers 
the  Grashof  medal,  which  is  considered  in  Germany 


194  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  highest  honor  that  can  be  conferred  upon  an 
engineer.  He  was  the  second  recipient  of  the  John 
Fritz  medal,  the  first  having  been  Mr.  Fritz  himself. 
He  was  one  of  the  two  honorary  members  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science.  He  belonged  to  a  large  number  of  scientific 
and  technological  societies,  and  was  called  to  the 
presidency  of  some  of  them.  His  immersion  in  his 
work,  together  with  his  native  modesty,  moved  him 
to  decline  more  such  offices  than  he  accepted,  and 
also  to  flee  from  honorary  degrees  offered  him  by 
sundry  American  colleges  in  which  he  was  in  no  way 
interested. 

One  of  the  things  he  most  dreaded  in  connection 
with  the  acceptance  of  such  dignities  was  making 
a  speech.  In  May,  1905,  the  International  Rail- 
way Congress  met  in  Washington.  As  it  embraced 
delegates  from  forty-eight  countries  besides  our  own, 
as  it  held  its  meetings  only  once  in  five  years,  and 
as  this  was  its  first  visit  to  the  United  States,  the 
occasion  was  regarded  as  of  great  importance,  and 
the  desire  was  universal  that  the  American  citizen 
most  widely  known  for  his  practical  achievements 
for  the  safety,  speed,  and  comfort  of  rail  transporta- 
tion should  be  its  chairman.  George  A.  Post  of 
New  York,  President  of  the  Railway  Business  Asso- 
ciation, was  deputed  to  convey  the  invitation. 
Mr.  Westinghouse  received  it  with  evidences  of 
genuine  dismay,  especially  when  he  found  that  he 
must  open  the  sessions  with  a  formal  address.  He 
declared  that  he  could  not  make  a  speech  to  such  an 
audience  —  he  should  be  tongue-tied  with  fright. 


"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON   HIM"     195 

As  he  resisted  all  ordinary  arguments,  Mrs.  West- 
inghouse  was  called  upon  to  lend  her  aid,  and  held 
her  ground  so  pertinaciously  that  he  capitulated. 
Even  after  he  had  written  the  speech  he  brought 
it  to  Mr.  Post  to  look  over  and  criticize. 

"His  manuscript/'  said  Mr.  Post,  in  narrating 
the  incident  to  me,  "was  a  fine  piece  of  work  from 
the  point  of  view  of  comprehensiveness  and  clarity 
of  expression  ;  but  I  promptly  drew  his  attention 
to  the  fact  that  it  ignored,  except  for  a  brief  passing 
reference,  the  momentous  subject  of  the  introduction 
of  electricity  as  an  agency  of  transportation. 

"I  have  been  personally  so  involved  in  that 
movement,'  he  answered,  'that  I  feared  it  might 
seem  like  egotism  for  me  to  enlarge  upon  it.' 

"I  induced  him,  nevertheless,  to  rewrite  enough 
of  the  address  to  treat  the  missing  topic  as  it  deserved. 
When  he  handed  back  the  revised  product  he  was 
still  suffering  from  premonitory  stage-fright.  '  I 
feel  weaker  and  weaker  as  the  time  approaches/ 
said  he ;  'I  really  don't  see  how  I  am  going  to  get 
through  this  speech.' 

"He  took  comfort  from  my  suggestion  that, 
instead  of  attempting  to  commit  his  remarks  to 
memory,  he  read  them ;  and  the  opening  day  found 
him  as  composed  as  if  he  were  going  to  one  of  his 
own  directors'  meetings.  Even  had  he  not  been 
heartened  by  my  assurances,  he  could  not  have 
helped  being  affected  by  what  followed  his  ascent 
of  the  platform.  The  audience  he  was  facing  was 
well  sprinkled  with  men  whose  aristocratic  or  aca- 
demic titles  had  been  blazoned  far  and  wide.  This 


196  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

furnished  me  a  pretext  for  presenting  him,  by  subtle 
contrast,  as  'one  who  needs  neither  prefix  nor  affix 
to  his  name  — -  George  Westinghouse.'  The  storm 
of  applause  and  cheers  which  greeted  him  as  he 
stepped  forward  spoke  for  itself  in  point  of  sincerity.'* 
Of  all  the  tributes  paid  him  in  this  line,  I  suspect 
that  two  stood  a  trifle  apart  from  the  rest  as  giving 
him  peculiar  pleasure.  One  was  a  little  paragraph 
which  appeared  in  Life  in  October,  1899,  in  a  depart- 
ment it  was  publishing  weekly  under  the  heading, 
"Popular  Birthdays": 

GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE,  BORN  OCT.  6,  1846 
My  dear  Mr.  Westinghouse : 

This  is  just  a  brief  line  sent  to  you  in  hopes  that 
it  will  reach  you  promptly  on  the  morning  of  your 
birthday.  Men  like  you  are  of  more  value  to  a  State 
than  others  I  could  mention --but  why  spoil  a 
happy  day  by  making  comparisons?  Your  crea- 
tions are  like  works  of  art  —  not  only  give  pleasure, 
but  have  a  practical  value.  Where  Shakespeare 
wrought  in  words,  you  work  in  iron  and  steel.  It 
is  good  to  think  of  you  alive  and  with  us  yet,  and  may 
Time  deal  kindly  with  one  whose  name  is  above 
reproach. 

With  many  congratulations,  believe  me 

Ever  yours, 

LIFE. 

Coming  "out  of  the  blue",  as  it  were,  from  a  jour- 
nal with  which  he  had  no  relation,  the  genuinely 
friendly  spirit  of  this  note  warmed  his  heart.  The 
other  tribute  was  of  a  wholly  different  character 
-nothing  less  than  the  award,  in  1912,  by  the 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  of  the 


"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM"     197 

Edison  gold  medal  for  ''meritorious  achievements 
in  the  development  of  the  alternating  current  sys- 
tem." That  after  a  quarter-century  of  strife,  he 
should  receive  such  a  recognition  with  the  name  of 
his  great  antagonist  attached  to  it,  founded  on  his 
success  in  the  very  field  where  they  had  fought  their 
hardest  battle,  seemed  indeed  the  crowning  triumph 
of  his  career  as  a  pioneer  in  the  industrial  utilization 
of  electricity  in  America. 

From  the  catalogue  of  honors  must  not  be  omitted 
two  others  which  emphasize  certain  qualities  more 
important  than  technical  skill  or  resourcefulness, 
scientific  learning  or  prophetic  vision.  In  an  earlier 
chapter,  mention  was  made  of  the  Philadelphia 
Company,  which,  thanks  to  the  breadth  of  its  char- 
ter, began  as  a  natural  gas  distributing  corporation 
and  gradually  absorbed  a  large  share  of  the  public 
utilities  of  Pittsburgh.  At  a  stage  in  its  affairs  when 
all  the  conditions  seemed  ripe,  an  offer  came  to  Mr. 
Westinghouse,  through  a  New  York  banking  house, 
for  the  purchase  of  his  controlling  interest  at  a  price 
well  above  the  current  market  quotations,  but  he 
refused  to  sell  unless  the  minority  stockholders  were 
given  the  chance  to  sell  their  shares  at  an  equal 
price.  Then  he  announced  this  to  the  minority, 
telling  them  that  they  need  not  sell  unless  they 
wished  to,  but  that  those  who  were  satisfied  with 
the  price  might  make  over  their  stock  to  him,  and 
he  would  sell  it  with  his  own.  In  less  than  three 
days,  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  remaining  shares 
were  locked  up  in  his  safe.  As  soon  as  he  had  all 
the  stock  in  his  custody,  he  carried  it  to  New  York, 


198  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

met  the  prospective  purchasers,  and  laid  before  them 
a  statement  of  the  affairs  of  the  Company.  They 
accepted  his  word  without  any  examination  of  the 
books,  and  took  over  his  whole  budget  of  certificates 
at  the  price  originally  offered.  This  exhibition  of 
confidence  by  the  parties  on  both  sides  of  the  bar- 
gain attracted  wide  attention  at  the  time,  and  has 
often  since  been  cited  in  connection  with  a  later 
episode  of  kindred  significance. 

Early  in  1905,-  underwriting  circles  throughout 
the  country  were  startled  by  a  scandal  which  broke 
out  in  New  York,  involving  charges  of  abuse  of 
trust  by  the  officers  of  some  of  the  great  life  insur- 
ance companies.  It  was  precipitated  by  the  death 
of  Henry  B.  Hyde,  the  largest  shareholder  in  the 
Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society,  which  was  then 
conducted  as  an  ordinary  joint  stock  company. 
For  some  time  a  violent  struggle  had  been  going 
on  for  mastery  in  the  management  between  the 
Hyde  party,  which  claimed  the  exclusive  right,  by 
virtue  of  its  stock  ownership,  and  another  called 
the  Alexander  party,  representing  the  policy  hold- 
ers, who  claimed  that,  as  their  annual  contribution 
furnished  the  means  for  running  the  business,  they 
should  have  supreme  authority  in  its  administra- 
tion. A  crisis  in  this  controversy  set  afoot  inquiries 
which  presently  made  plain  the  need  for  a  general 
overhauling  of  the  local  life  insurance  traffic.  Gov- 
ernor Higgins  sent  a  special  message  on  the  subject 
to  the  legislature,  which  responded  by  appointing 
a  commission  of  investigation.  The  commission  chose 
as  its  counsel  Charles  E.  Hughes,  whose  adroit  exam- 


"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON   HIM"     199 

ination  of  witnesses  unearthed  a  mass  of  shocking  evi- 
dence and  incidentally  won  him  a  national  reputation. 

It  was  shown,  among  other  things,  that  trust 
funds  had  been  used  for  procuring  desired  legisla- 
tion, and  for  speculation  in  securities  designed  for 
the  companies'  investments ;  that  one  insurance 
officer  held  directorships  in  several  railroad  and 
other  companies,  traceable  to  his  control  over  his 
own  company's  investment  funds ;  that  well-known 
attorneys  were  receiving  annual  salaries  as  retainers, 
without  rendering  any  compensatory  service ;  that 
agents  were  indulging  in  all  sorts  of  trickery,  such  as 
accepting  potatoes  from  farmers  and  passes  from 
railroad  men  in  payment  of  premiums,  taking  notes 
instead  of  money  and  making  no  effort  to  collect 
them,  and  allowing  rebates  under  conditions  which 
opened  an  endless  vista  of  fraud. 

Even  before  these  revelations  of  corruption  had 
been  formally  spread  upon  the  record,  popular  sus- 
picion had  become  so  strong  that  many  shareholders 
in  the  Equitable,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe, 
had  disposed  of  their  stock  at  a  sacrifice,  and  the 
new  business  of  the  Society  was  falling  off  so  that 
its  bankruptcy  seemed  inevitable.  At  this  juncture 
Thomas  Fortune  Ryan,  the  New  York  financier, 
came  to  the  rescue.  He  formed  a  syndicate  to  pur- 
chase control  of  the  Society,  with  its  four  hundred 
million  dollars'  worth  of  accumulated  assets  and  its 
six  hundred  thousand  policyholders,  and  announced 
his  purpose  of  reorganizing  it  on  a  mutual  basis. 
It  was  a  bold  stroke,  but  probably  the  only  one 
which  could  save  the  day  not  merely  for  the  Equi- 


200  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

table  but  for  American  life  insurance  generally ;  for, 
in  view  of  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  interests  in- 
volved, with  their  possibilities  of  disaster  for  thou- 
sands of  helpless  widows  and  orphans,  the  upgrowth 
of  adverse  sentiment  was  taking  on  the  aspect  of 
a  great  public  calamity. 

But  how  was  Mr.  Ryan  to  stem  so  violent  a  tide  ? 
If  he  kept  the  control  of  the  Society  in  his  own  hands, 
how  many  people  would  believe  that  he  had  any 
higher  motive  in  buying  it  than  a  desire  to  turn  the 
purchase  to  his  personal  profit  as  promptly  as  pos- 
sible ?  Before  paying  a  dollar  of  the  price,  he  had 
thought  out  his  plan  for  putting  the  policyholders 
in  control  of  the  Society,  working  to  this  end  through 
a  board  of  three  trustees  —  men  whose  names  would 
silence  all  cavil,  and  in  whom  he  could  afford  to  vest 
an  extraordinary  prerogative.  They  were  to  hold 
the  unrestricted  power  to  vote  the  stock,  to  prepare 
the  necessary  amendments  to  the  charter,  to  super- 
vise every  stage  of  the  reorganization,  and  be  answer- 
able to  the  public  for  its  cleanness  of  design,  and  to 
choose  thirty  of  the  fifty-two  directors,  leaving  the 
stockholders  to  elect  the  remaining  twenty-two. 
For  two  members  of  his  triumvirate,  he  selected 
Grover  Cleveland,  the  only  living  ex- President  of 
the  United  States,  and  Morgan  J.  O'Brien,  who  had 
been  for  nearly  twenty  years  a  highly  esteemed  Jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  and  was  then 
presiding  over  its  appellate  division.  As  to  the 
third  member  he  consulted  with  several  friends  whose 
judgment  he  held  most  in  respect.  In  view  of  the 
two  selections  already  made,  he  did  not  care  about 


" BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM"     201 

a  public  officer  or  a  learned  lawyer;  his  hope  was 
to  find  a  business  man  known  throughout  the  world 
for  intelligence,  courage,  energy,  force  of  character, 
and,  above  everything  else,  unimpeachable  honesty. 
The  man  who,  of  all  considered  by  him  and  his 
friends,  seemed  to  meet  best  this  composite  demand, 
was  George  Westinghouse. 

The  messenger  chosen  to  convey  to  Mr.  Westing- 
house  the  request  for  his  services  was  Paul  D. 
Cravath,  who  had  been  one  of  his  chief  legal  counsel 
for  years,  and  whose  intimate  friendship  with  him, 
it  was  thought,  would  make  for  his  acceptance 
of  his  trust.  A  less  propitious  season  for  such  a 
proposal  it  would  have  been  hard  to  choose.  The 
business  of  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany had  expanded  so  rapidly  that  its  executive 
resources  were  overtaxed,  and  more  and  more  of  its 
president's  time  and  thought  and  financial  credit 
were  continually  required  to  carry  things  along. 
Almost  any  other  man  than  Mr.  Westinghouse 
would  have  been  overwhelmed  by  the  load  of  re- 
sponsibility which  was  heaping  upon  his  single  pair 
of  shoulders,  and  would  have  insisted  upon  throw- 
ing some  of  it  off  rather  than  taking  more  on.  Mr. 
Cravath,  in  presenting  Mr.  Ryan's  request,  made 
no  secret  of  the  seriousness  of  the  burden  which  the 
trustees  would  have  to  assume.  With  all  the  facts 
before  him,  the  argument  that  finally  won  Mr.  West- 
inghouse's  consent  to  serve  was  one  based  on  his  duty 
as  a  good  citizen  to  put  aside  his  personal  preferences 
in  the  presence  of  a  crisis  with  which,  for  some  reason, 
he  was  regarded  as  especially  fitted  to  cope. 


202  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Within  a  week  the  trustees  met,  organized,  and 
laid  out  their  general  scheme  of  work.  There  were 
several  vacancies  to  be  filled  in  the  board  of  direc- 
tors, and,  as  these  had  been  caused  by  the  resigna- 
tions of  James  J.  Hill,  August  Belmont,  Henry  C. 
Frick,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  John  A.  Stewart,  Andrew  J. 
Cassatt,  and  other  men  of  like  substance,  the  impor- 
tance of  finding  successors  of  business  prominence 
was  obvious.  More  than  two  hundred  names  came 
up  for  review,  a  few  of  the  best  suggestions  emanat- 
ing from  a  little  group  of  policyholders  who  had 
banded  together  to  do  their  utmost  for  the  salvation 
of  the  Society.  The  trustees  were  occasionally  put 
to  their  trumps  by  the  need  of  rapid  action.  One 
candidate,  for  instance,  lived  in  a  far  Southern  State, 
but  possessed  natural  qualities  and  a  fund  of  experi- 
ence so  admirably  suited  to  the  work  he  would  have 
to  do  that  the  trustees  were  a  unit  in  their  desire 
to  secure  him.  A  search  of  the  lists,  however, 
showed  that  he  lacked  an  essential  requisite:  he 
was  not  a  policyholder.  Fortunately,  this  was  a 
fault  that  could  be  quickly  remedied ;  and,  between 
the  hours  of  eleven  in  the  morning  and  two  in  the 
afternoon  on  the  day  of  the  discovery,  the  gentle- 
man made  his  formal  application,  underwent  his 
examination,  and  had  his  policy  issued,  thanks  to 
the  activity  of  the  trustees  and  other  officers  of  the 
company  and  the  liberal  employment  of  the  tele- 
graph. 

The  soundness  of  Mr.  Ryan's  judgment  in  the 
choice  of  his  triumvirate  was  amply  proved.  For 
the  three  years  preceding  Mr.  Cleveland's  death 


"BLUSHING  HONORS  THICK  UPON  HIM"     203 

their  action  on  nearly  all  questions  brought  before 
them  was  unanimous,  and  where  they  differed  in 
opinions  it  was  a  mutually  respectful  difference,  and 
not  on  vital  matters.  The  faith  of  the  public  in 
their  high  qualifications  was  shown  when,  prepara- 
tory to  the  first  election,  they  sent  out  to  every  policy- 
holder  two  papers  with  carefully  couched  explana- 
tions of  the  meaning  and  force  of  each  —  a  blank 
ballot,  and  a  proxy  containing  their  own  names ; 
for  of  the  ninety  thousand  responses,  only  forty-five 
hundred  made  any  use  of  the  ballot,  the  others 
containing  signed  proxies  committing  the  whole 
business  to  the  discretion  of  the  trustees. 


CHAPTER  XV 

A  SECOND  FINANCIAL  ORDEAL 

AFTER  so  many  years  of  success  in  overcoming  the 
difficulties  that  confronted  him  in  building  up  his 
organizations,  George  Westinghouse  was  destined  to 
suffer  the  reaction  which  is  due  from  time  to  time  in 
all  evolutionary  processes.  We  have  seen  how  his 
Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company  passed  through 
the  ordeal  of  the  early  'QO'S  and  came  out  triumphant. 
But  its  very  prosperity  at  a  time  when  the  general 
business  of  the  country  was  most  depressed  involved 
it  in  fresh  perils  by  begetting  overconfidence. 

To  enlarge  its  resources,  it  first  increased  its  capital 
stock ;  then  it  issued  collateral  trust  bonds,  later 
debenture  bonds,  and  later  still  collateral  trust  notes  ; 
till,  with  its  multiplication  of  fixed  charges,  its  ex- 
traordinarily liberal  dividend  policy,  the  maturing  of 
many  of  its  short-term  obligations,  and  the  advances 
it  was  compelled  to  make  to  protect  its  foreign 
dependencies  —  none  of  which,  except  the  Canadian 
concern,  was  on  a  paying  basis  —  the  percentage 
of  net  profits  to  capital  declined  year  after  year  at 
an  alarming  rate.  This  was  not  a  sign  of  collapsing 
traffic :  on  the  contrary,  it  was  due  to  the  steady 
expansion  of  the  Company's  business.  The  era  of 


A  SECOND    FINANCIAL  ORDEAL         205 

electrical  development  had  set  in  with  abnormal 
energy.  More  light  and  power  and  traction  com- 
panies were  organizing  than  could  be  readily  financed  ; 
and  when  those  of  a  strictly  local  character  found 
themselves  unable  to  market  their  securities  on  rea- 
sonable terms,  they  had  to  fall  back  upon  the  manu- 
facturing companies  from  whom  they  were  buying 
their  equipment,  settling  their  purchases  only  partly 
in  cash,  and  giving  notes  for  the  balance  with  a 
deposit  of  their  own  stocks  and  bonds  as  collateral. 

Thus  it  came  about  that,  with  its  trade  continually 
on  the  increase,  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company  was  faced  with  a  perilous  embarrassment. 
The  banks  had  been  overloaded  with  the  negotiable 
paper  of  the  small  concerns,  and  began  to  retrench 
on  their  discounts.  In  accordance  with  his  habit  in 
forecasting  the  future,  Westinghouse  read  in  these 
phenomena  only  their  hopeful  portent.  The  enor- 
mous diffusion  of  the  uses  of  electricity,  and  the  rapid 
cheapening  of  methods  for  producing  it,  pointed,  for 
him,  to  a  near  day  when  it  should  penetrate  every 
branch  of  industry,  public  and  private.  What  his 
prophetic  vision  overlooked  was  the  ever-increasing 
need  of  the  means  of  sustenance  for  this  growth. 
Unfortunately  for  him,  the  men  who  controlled  those 
means  were  unable  to  share  his  optimism  as  to  the 
ultimate  prospect. 

During  all  this  period  there  was  not  only  no 
shrinkage  in  the  Company's  dividends,  but  a  positive 
inflation.  The  rate  on  both  preferred  and  common 
stock,  starting  at  seven  per  cent,  rose  first  to  nine 
and  then  to  ten  per  cent.  Naturally  this  increased 


206  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  speculative  value  of  the  stocks,  but  it  had  the 
concurrent  effect  of  diminishing  the  ratio  of  working 
capital  to  volume  of  trade.  For  example,  the  pros- 
perous year  ending  March  31,  1907,  showed  a  profit 
applicable  to  dividends  approximating  two  million 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  but  the  dividends 
at  the  prevailing  high  rate  ate  up  almost  two  million 
and  a  half  of  this,  leaving  less  than  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  with  which  to  tide  over  the  first 
exigencies  of  the  fiscal  year.  In  the  meantime  the 
loans  needed  were  obtained  from  the  banks  with 
more  and  more  difficulty  and  at  a  greater  and  greater 
cost ;  an  issue  of  fifteen  million  dollars  of  convertible 
debenture  bonds,  made  in  1906,  had  been  launched 
only  at  a  net  discount  of  nearly  six  per  cent.  As  the 
floating  debt  continued  to  rise,  resort  was  had  to  a 
new  issue  of  stock,  which  was  offered  to  the  existing 
shareholders  at  fifty  per  cent  above  par  —  a  pre- 
mium ostensibly  justified  by  the  ten  per  cent  divi- 
dend which  the  Company  was  then  paying  and  an- 
nounced its  purpose  to  maintain.  But  the  effort 
was  ineffective,  for  clouds  were  already  gathering 
thick  on  the  financial  horizon,  premonitory  of  the 
storm  which  was  to  break  in  the  autumn  and  sweep 
over  the  entire  country. 

The  middle  of  October,  1907,  found  the  Company 
in  actual  straits.  On  the  fifteenth  it  paid  its  usual 
quarterly  dividend  ;  but  a  fresh  stock  issue  on  which 
it  had  counted  to  bring  seven  and  a  half  million 
dollars  into  its  treasury  had  yielded  only  about  one 
third  of  that  sum,  and,  in  order  to  accomplish  even 
this,  Westinghouse  and  one  or  two  other  large  stock- 


A  SECOND   FINANCIAL  ORDEAL          207 

holders  had  been  obliged  to  come  forward  and  prac- 
tically divide  the  subscription  among  them.  It  was 
carrying  a  bond  burden  of  some  thirty  million  dollars  ; 
most  of  its  floating  debt  of  fourteen  million  dollars 
was  due  or  approaching  maturity  ;  and  in  view  of  the 
situation  the  banks  in  Pittsburgh  and  elsewhere  were 
refusing  any  extension  of  time  on  the  nine  million 
dollars  or  more  they  had  advanced,  while  the  credi- 
tors for  merchandise  furnished  were  pressing  their 
claims,  aggregating  about  five  million  dollars,  for 
payment.  Behind  all  these  direct  obligations  stood 
the  consideration  due  to  the  stockholders,  whose 
interest  amounted  in  round  numbers  to  twenty-nine 
million  dollars,  almost  all  the  shares  having  been 
bought  at  prices  above  par. 

On  the  eighteenth,  Westinghouse,  who  was  in  New 
York,  telegraphed  his  financial  secretary,  Walter 
Uptegraff,  to  meet  him  there,  and  their  canvass  of 
the  whole  matter  led  to  the  conclusion  that,  unless 
the  outstanding  loans  could  be  renewed  or  four  mil- 
lion dollars  in  cash  raised  at  once,  the  company  must 
go  to  the  wall.  New  York  was  out  of  the  question 
as  a  further  source  of  assistance,  so  they  hastened 
back  to  Pittsburgh  and  called  into  consultation 
Judge  J.  H.  Reed,  an  old  and  good  friend.  Reed 
made  straight  for  the  local  bankers,  setting  the  actual 
facts  before  them  as  to  the  inherent  strength  of  the 
Company,  and  enlarging  on  the  economic  unwisdom, 
on  public  grounds  alone,  of  letting  so  magnificent  an 
asset  of  the  city  suffer  damage  for  lack  of  the  means 
needed  to  relieve  a  momentary  pressure.  For  twenty- 
four  hours  there  seemed  a  chance  that  the  threatened 


208  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

catastrophe  might  be  averted.  Then  came  the 
twenty-second,  with  its  news  that  the  Knickerbocker 
Trust  Company  in  New  York  had  failed,  and  that 
the  money  center  of  the  country  was  in  the  throes  of 
a  panic.  On  the  twenty- third,  therefore,  the  di- 
rectors of  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company 
applied  to  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the 
appointment  of  receivers. 

After  the  event,  of  course,  there  were  a  multitude 
of  wiseacres  in  the  neighborhood  who  shook  their 
heads  solemnly  and  said  they  had  long  felt  certain 
of  what  was  coming.  The  rest  of  the  community, 
outside  of  banking  circles,  was  taken  by  surprise. 
It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  founder  and  president 
of  the  Company  to  waive  needless  formalities,  and, 
as  most  of  his  fellow  shareholders  had  appeared 
entirely  content  with  his  administration,  he  had  not 
taken  the  trouble  to  advertise  its  details  to  the  world. 
No  report  beyond  a  mere  generality  or  two  had  been 
issued  between  1897  and  1907,  nor  had  any  regular 
stockholders'  meeting  been  held  during  the  same 
period  except  in  1906.  On  that  occasion  a  handful 
of  persons  present,  led  by  a  prominent  broker,  de- 
manded explanations  of  sundry  transactions  of  the 
Company  which  had  taken  place  on  the  authority 
of  a  special  meeting  of  stockholders  and  directors: 
one  was  an  issue  of  new  stock  and  another  the  pur- 
chase of  a  small  railroad.  Westinghouse  himself 
was  absent  when  the  colloquy  took  place,  and  Vice- 
President  Herr,  who  was  in  the  chair,  assured  the 
dissenters  that  the  reason  the  Company  did  not  issue 
more  elaborate  reports  was  because  it  preferred  not 


A  SECOND   FINANCIAL  ORDEAL         209 

to  expose  its  inner  affairs  to  the  scrutiny  of  its  busi- 
ness rivals. 

At  the  1907  meeting,  however,  Westinghouse  pre- 
sided, and  invited  all  who  were  seeking  information 
to  interrogate  him.  In  response  to  their  inquiries 
he  explained  that  the  issue  of  additional  stock  men- 
tioned the  year  before  had  been  made  because  the 
Company  was  receiving  orders  of  such  magnitude 
that  it  must  have  more  cash  in  hand  to  execute  them. 
He  added  frankly  that,  borrowing  when  the  money 
market  was  exceptionally  tight,  it  had  been  charged 
inordinate  rates  for  the  accommodation.  As  to  the 
railroad  purchased,  it  was  a  valuable  property,  the 
securities  of  which  had  been  taken  over  as  part  of  a 
large  transaction  that  resulted  to  the  advantage  of 
the  Company.  The  questioners  were  very  compli- 
mentary afterward  in  their  references  to  the  candor 
of  his  statement,  and  an  incident  which  at  first 
threatened  to  cause  an  insurrection  was  closed. 

However  astute  any  outsiders  may  have  been, 
there  were  members  of  the  inner  circle  of  the  Com- 
pany's management  to  whom  the  news  of  its  em- 
barrassment came  almost  without  warning.  One 
was  Vice  President  Herr.  At  half-past  five  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  twenty-second  of  October,  he  was 
talking  over  a  routine  matter  with  Westinghouse, 
who  appeared  as  composed  as  usual ;  and  as  they 
finished  their  conversation  Westinghouse  remarked : 

"Herr,  I  shall  have  a  new  job  for  you  to-morrow." 

"What's  that?"   asked  Herr. 

"Receiver  of  the  Electric  Company." 

Overnight,  the  news  filtered  out  in  various  direc- 


210  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

tions,  but  some  persons  who  heard  it  found  it  difficult 
to  credit  when  they  saw  all  the  men  busy  the  next 
day  at  their  usual  tasks,  and  the  chief  wearing  an 
unclouded  brow.  At  half-past  nine  in  the  morning, 
while  his  counsel  were  preparing  the  final  papers  for 
presentation  to  the  court,  one  of  his  lieutenants  called 
to  see  him  about  a  matter  of  current  business.  When 
it  was  disposed  of,  he  exclaimed  as  buoyantly  as  if 
financial  straits  were  the  subject  furthest  from  his 
mind:  "By  the  way,  Macfarland,  I've  got  an  idea 
now  for  our  turbine  that  will  make  a  sensation  when 
we  bring  it  out !" 

Nevertheless  it  proved  a  stirring  day  in  the  chief's 
own  office  in  the  Westinghouse  Building.  Telegraph 
boys  were  scurrying  back  and  forth,  the  telephone 
bell  kept  up  an  unceasing  clatter,  and  visitors  would 
run  in  for  a  brief  interview  and  out  again  with  equal 
haste. 

Westinghouse  saw  those  with  whom  he  felt  he 
could  speak  freely,  but  excused  himself  to  any  whom 
he  suspected  of  coming  chiefly  from  motives  of  curi- 
osity. To  all  who  inquired  about  the  situation  he 
said  the  same  thing  in  effect :  '"The  Company  is  not 
insolvent  —  only  hampered  for  the  moment.  It  is 
doing  more  business  than  ever  before.  It  will  come 
out  all  right."  And  to  an  old  friend  whose  voice  had 
a  particularly  despondent  inflection  he  counseled 
calmness,  adding:  "I  grant  you  that  this  is  not 
pleasant,  but  it  isn't  the  biggest  thing  in  the  world. 
All  large  business  has  its  ups  and  downs.  The  crisis 
through  which  we  are  passing  is  only  part  of  our  day's 
work." 


A  SECOND   FINANCIAL  ORDEAL         211 

Whoever  imagined  from  his  manner  that  he  was 
simply  indifferent  made  a  sad  mistake.  He  realized 
to  the  full  the  force  of  the  blow  that  had  fallen  upon 
him,  but  he  was  made  of  the  sort  of  metal  that  does 
not  break  under  beating.  His  thoughts  went  out 
in  the  hour  of  his  own  stress  to  the  unhappiness  of 
many  who,  on  the  strength  of  his  name,  had  bought 
electric  stock  at  its  price  of  two  days  before,  and  seen 
it  drop  forty  per  cent  in  twenty-four  hours.  He 
drew  some  consolation  from  the  fact  that  the  local 
stock  exchange  had  closed  its  doors  that  morning, 
to  remain  shut  till  the  storm  blew  over,  and  he  issued 
statements  to  the  newspapers  advising  all  share- 
holders not  to  throw  their  holdings  overboard  in  the 
panic  but  wait  till  the  air  cleared  and  the  Company 
righted  itself,  as  he  was  convinced  it  would  soon. 
Conditions,  he  admitted,  were  not  the  same  in  1891, 
because  the  Company  had  now  exhausted  its  market 
for  junior  securities,  and  another  solution  than  a 
fresh  issue  would  have  to  be  devised  for  the  present 
difficulty. 

The  failure  of  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company  carried  down  with  it  for  a  short  time  three 
other  Westinghouse  concerns :  the  Machine  Com- 
pany, the  Nernst  Lamp  Company  —  a  minor  per- 
sonal venture  of  Westinghouse's  —  and  the  Security 
Investment  Company.  As  the  troubles  of  this  trio 
were  adjustable  separately,  they  need  not  occupy 
our  attention  further ;  and  neither  the  Air  Brake 
Company  nor  the  Union  Switch  and  Signal  Company 
was  affected  at  all. 

The  creditors  divided  themselves  naturally  into 


212  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

four  groups,  each  of  which  appointed  a  committee 
to  represent  it  in  the  negotiations  which  were  to 
follow.  That  chosen  by  the  bankers  was  the  "re- 
organization" committee  proper,  and  to  cooperate 
with  it  there  were  a  merchandise  creditors'  committee, 
an  employees'  committee,  and  a  stockholders'  com- 
mittee. The  bankers,  representing  clients  in  Pitts- 
burgh, New  York,  Boston,  Chicago,  and  a  string  of 
lesser  cities  and  towns  stretching  from  the  Atlantic 
Coast  to  the  Pacific,  vetoed  peremptorily  most  of 
the  plans  first  proposed.  The  other  committees 
seemed  generally  sympathetic  with  the  desire  of 
Westinghouse  himself  that  measures  be  adopted  for 
immediate  relief,  trusting  to  time  and  the  obvious 
momentum  of  the  Company's  business  to  work  out 
the  ultimate  salvation  of  all  the  interests  concerned. 
The  more  conservative  element  among  them  looked 
less  kindly  upon  his  insistence  that  the  support  of 
the  foreign  companies  and  branches  should  be  es- 
pecially safeguarded  in  any  agreement  reached,  for 
the  objectors  could  see  in  these  offspring  only  a  drag 
upon  the  parent  company. 

Scheme  after  scheme  was  put  forward  only  to  be 
swept  aside,  and  it  was  not  till  toward  the  end  of 
March,  1908,  that  a  basis  was  reached  on  which  all 
parties  could  come  together.  Although  the  chief 
credit  for  it  undoubtedly  was  due  to  Westinghouse, 
it  came  to  be  known  as  the  merchandise  creditors' 
plan,  because  it  had  for  its  central  idea  the  funding 
of  substantially  the  entire  debt  of  the  Company  into 
stock,  and  this  would  demand  of  the  merchandise 
creditors,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  heavier  sacrifice 


A  SECOND   FINANCIAL  ORDEAL         213 

than  of  any  one  else.  They  were  to  accept  four  mil- 
lion dollars*  worth  of  new  stock  in  liquidation  of  their 
claims,  and,  as  ten  million  dollars  was  fixed  as  the  sum 
required  to  procure  the  dissolution  of  the  receiver- 
ship, the  remaining  six  million  dollars  was  to  be  ob- 
tained by  offering  that  amount  of  new  stock  for  sub- 
scription by  the  existing  shareholders.  The  banks 
were  required,  under  the  same  plan,  to  merge  half 
their  claims  in  convertible  five  per  cent  bonds,  and 
the  remaining  half  either  in  stock  at  par,  or  in  fifteen- 
year  notes  at  the  same  rate  of  interest ;  with  the 
option  that  the  second  half  might  be  divided,  three 
fifths  going  into  five  per  cent  notes  maturing  serially 
in  four,  five,  and  six  years,  and  the  other  two  fifths 
into  stock  at  par. 

The  banks  could  as  a  rule  see  little  virtue  in  this 
project ;  those  that  yielded  most  readily  did  so  only 
on  the  assurance  that  if  they  did  not  take  this  they 
might  lose  more  by  a  forced  liquidation  and  the 
permanent  ruin  of  the  Company.  Some  months 
later  a  number  who  had  been  holding  out  discovered 
that  the  new  shares  were  already  rising  in  market 
value,  and  consented  to  exchange  their  claims  for 
the  securities  offered.  The  stockholders  were  yet 
harder  to  deal  with.  Many  raised  the  objection  that 
they  had  not  the  requisite  money  in  hand  ;  a  larger 
number  declared  that  the  stock  they  already  owned 
had  plunged  them  into  misfortune,  and  they  did  not 
wish  any  more  of  the  same  sort.  It  was  to  the  latter 
class  that  the  stockholders'  committee  addressed 
itself  most  earnestly. 

At  first  its  letters  were  conciliatory  in  tone,  ex- 


214  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

patiating  on  the  duty  of  all  shareholders  to  keep  up 
a  property  of  which  they  were  the  actual  owners ; 
these  were  followed  by  diplomatic  suggestions  that  a 
general  and  ready  response  would  capture  public 
attention,  stimulate  the  market  for  the  securities, 
send  up  prices,  and  make  a  neat  profit  for  those  sub- 
scribers who  came  in  at  once.  Still  later  came  plain 
warnings  that,  unless  the  reorganization  plan  were 
soon  put  into  operation,  the  bondholders  would  force 
a  sale  and  the  stock  would  be  wholly  wiped  out,  its 
holders  recovering  not  a  penny  of  the  money  they 
had  spent  on  it.  But,  though  the  final  date  for 
closing  the  subscription  list  was  postponed  again  and 
again,  and  "last  call"  followed  "last  call"  with 
mortifying  regularity ;  though  the  bankers,  whose 
position  was  so  strong  that  they  could  have  wrecked 
everything  by  an  inconsiderate  move,  had  seen  a 
new  light ;  though  Westinghouse  personally  took  up 
a  million  and  a  half  dollars  of  the  new  stock  ;  though 
independent  banking  and  brokerage  houses  which 
could  have  kept  quite  out  of  the  atmosphere  of 
trouble  voluntarily  opened  their  books  for  subscrip- 
tions and  offered  to  advance  the  needed  money  to 
subscribers :  about  eighteen  hundred  of  the  four 
thousand  stockholders  were  still,  as  late  as  October  i, 
1908,  refusing  to  take  over  their  allotments  of  the  new 
stock,  and  even  November  20  found  few  of  the 
laggards  in  line. 

Against  this  showing  stood  forth  in  brilliant  con- 
trast the  action  of  the  Company's  employees,  most  of 
them  men  whose  limited  means  had  been  accumulated 
from  their  daily  savings.  In  the  first  days  of  the 


A  SECOND  FINANCIAL  ORDEAL         215 

reorganization  agitation,  being  recognized  as  parties 
in  interest  because  their  livelihood  was  temporarily 
at  stake  on  the  survival  of  the  business,  they  had 
appointed  a  committee  to  canvass  among  their  own 
body  for  subscriptions  to  the  new  stock.  When,  at 
the  general  conference,  the  work  to  be  accomplished 
was  apportioned  among  the  several  committees,  the 
volume  of  subscriptions  assigned  to  the  employees' 
committee  to  collect  was  three  hundred  ninety-five 
thousand,  six  hundred  fifty  dollars  ;  on  the  final  day 
of  reckoning,  it  came  forward  with  six  hundred 
eleven  thousand,  two  hundred  fifty  dollars,  col- 
lected from  about  five  thousand  of  the  workers  — 
a  striking  exhibition  of  loyalty  and  intelligence  on 
the  part  of  the  men  who  knew  at  first  hand  what  was 
actually  going  on  in  the  shops. 

On  December  5,  1908,  less  than  fourteen  months 
after  the  appointment  of  the  receivers,  the  Company 
was  taken  out  of  their  hands  and  restored  to  the  stock- 
holders, purged  of  most  of  the  immediate  ills  which 
had  beset  it.  Its  net  debt  had  been  reduced  from 
more  than  forty-four  million  dollars  to  less  than 
thirty-one  million  dollars,  and  its  annual  interest  bur- 
den by  one  million  dollars ;  while  its  capital  stock, 
on  which  there  was  no  fixed  liability,  had  been  in- 
creased from  twenty-nine  million  dollars  to  forty-one 
million  dollars,  all  sorts  of  floating  debts  having  been 
merged  in  this  increase.  There  was  also  another  and 
radical  change,  of  which  Westinghouse  had  received 
intimations  but  of  which  he  had  not  realized  the  im- 
minence. In  pursuance  of  an  arrangement  entered 
into  when  the  reorganization  plan  was  adopted,  the 


2i6  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

bankers  and  merchandise  creditors  who  had  under- 
taken to  put  it  through  took  control  of  the  adminis- 
tration and  elected  a  new  board  of  sixteen  directors, 
selected  mainly  from  among  the  members  of  the  sev- 
eral committees.  This  board  chose  for  its  chairman 
Robert  Mather,  a  lawyer  of  a  conservative  bent  of 
mind,  who  had  had  large  experience  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Rock  Island  Railway.  Westinghouse 
was  left  in  the  office  of  president,  but  his  authority 
was  limited  to  the  operating  and  sales  departments, 
and  the  direction  of  all  financial  affairs  was  vested 
in  Mather. 

Temperamentally  the  two  men  were  wholly  un- 
congenial. The  boundary  line  between  their  re- 
spective fields  was  sometimes  indistinct  in  spite  of 
every  effort  to  define  it ;  both  men  were  very  positive 
in  their  mental  attitude  toward  any  question  pre- 
sented which  offered  a  possibility  for  difference  :  and 
the  difficulty  of  the  situation  was  intensified  by  the 
fact  that  Westinghouse  had  been  for  so  many  years 
not  only  the  titular  head  of  the  Company  but  its 
practical  dictator.  The  result  was  not  hard  to  fore- 
see, especially  as  unfortunate  outside  conditions 
made  the  first  year  meager  in  profits.  In  January, 
1910,  the  directors  adopted  what  on  its  face  seemed 
a  highly  complimentary  resolution,  granting  Westing- 
house  a  six  months*  leave  of  absence.  Soon  reports 
gained  circulation,  however,  that  the  vacation  he 
was  invited  to  take  was  merely  a  subterfuge  to  cover 
a  quarrel  between  him  and  the  chairman  of  the  board, 
which,  as  the  directors  sided  with  their  chairman, 
pointed  to  the  early  retirement  of  the  president. 


A  SECOND   FINANCIAL  ORDEAL         217 

These  stories  proved  only  too  true.  At  the  annual 
meeting  in  July,  Westinghouse  did  not  appear  or 
make  any  effort  for  reelection,  and  the  directors 
elected  Edwin  F.  Atkins,  a  prominent  manufacturer 
and  merchant  of  Boston,  to  the  presidency.  By  the 
summer  of  1911,  the  Company  having  in  the  interval 
taken  sundry  courses  which  he  believed  unprogressive 
and  injurious,  Westinghouse  was  ready  to  open  a 
campaign  for  reinstatement,  but  later  reconsidered 
this  purpose.  Nevertheless,  when  he  entered  the 
annual  meeting  he  carried  in  his  pocket  proxies 
which,  with  his  own  holding,  represented  about  two 
hundred  thousand  shares.  His  endeavor  to  make 
these  effective  by  moving  to  permit  cumulative 
voting  was  defeated  by  the  majority  in  control,  who 
swung  four  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  votes  for 
any  measure  or  candidate  they  favored. 

This  was  the  last  appearance  of  Westinghouse  as 
a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Electric  and  Manufac- 
turing Company  which  he  founded  and  had  conducted 
for  the  better  part  of  twenty  years,  and  which,  of 
all  his  many  enterprises,  held  the  supreme  place  in 
his  heart.  With  his  elimination  ends  the  story  of 
the  rehabilitation  of  his  corporation  after  a  fall 
which  an  eminent  economist  has  described  as  "in 
point  of  size,  the  most  considerable  mercantile  failure 
America  has  ever  witnessed."  1  Tragic  as  the  finale 
was,  not  a  dissenting  note  was  audible  in  the  com- 
ments it  drew  forth  from  thoughtful  men  all  over  the 
world,  dwelling  upon  the  enormous  debt  of  gratitude 

^'Corporate  Promotions  and  Reorganizations,"  by  Arthur  S.  Dewing, 
Ph.D. 


218  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

that  humanity  owed  George  Westinghouse  for  what 
he  had  accomplished  as  a  fearless  captain  of  industry, 
even  though  a  combination  of  untoward  circumstances 
had  prevented  his  reaping  the  full  measure  of  material 
reward  he  had  so  richly  earned. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
AIR  SPRINGS  AND  ADDRESSES 

AFTER  George  Westinghouse  had  been  forced  out 
of  the  presidency  of  his  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  his  old  friends  recalled  a  remark  he  made 
to  the  group  of  Pittsburgh  bankers  who,  in  1891, 
refused  to  lend  him  the  sum  he  needed  in  an  emer- 
gency:  "Well,  gentlemen,  this  only  compels  me  to 
do  something  else."  He  had  no  notion  of  being  laid 
upon  the  shelf.  His  Machine  Company  was  busy 
making  gas  engines  and  turbines,  and  to  the  develop- 
ment of  these  he  devoted  himself  with  the  zeal  of 
an  artist  coming  back  with  a  fresh  eye  to  a  half- 
finished  picture.  Beside  the  mechanisms  to  which 
he  had  already  given  attention  in  the  past,  he 
found  a  new  one  to  interest  him,  and  he  owed  the 
discovery,  as  he  had  so  many  of  its  predecessors, 
to  an  accident. 

The  first  use  of  automobiles  in  this  country  gave 
scant  promise  of  their  present  universality.  Their 
cost,  their  load  limitations,  their  liability  to  get  out 
of  order,  and  their  general  untrustworthiness  for 
long  pulls,  at  that  time,  led  most  practical  observers 
to  discredit  the  idea  of  their  ever  superseding  the 
delivery  dray,  the  street  car,  or  the  suburban  railway 
for  everyday  transportation.  In  view  of  his  almost 


220  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

lifelong  association  with  the  railroad  industry,  it 
is  hardly  wonderful  that  the  usually  progressive 
Westinghouse  was  among  the  ultra-conservatives 
on  this  point.  If  he  wished  to  go  somewhere  for  a 
definite  purpose,  he  was  glad  to  go  by  the  shortest 
route  and  the  most  expeditious  conveyance,  but 
rushing  through  the  air  for  the  mere  sake  of  rest 
and  refreshment  had  no  attractions  for  him ;  and 
when  finally,  in  1904,  he  was  induced  to  let  the  French 
Westinghouse  Works  build  an  elaborately  equipped 
limousine  car  for  him  as  an  exhibit  of  workmanship, 
his  surrender  to  a  business  argument  involved  no 
change  in  his  personal  prejudices.  In  the  last  years 
of  his  life,  it  may  be  said  in  passing,  he  became  a 
convert  to  the  utilitarian  view  of  the  automobile, 
and  used  one  constantly  in  running  between  Pitts- 
burgh and  the  little  towns  in  Turtle  Creek  Valley 
where  his  various  shops  were  situated. 

It  was  while  he  was  still  unconverted  to  the  new 
mode  of  locomotion  and  ready  to  consider  any  fact 
to  its  disparagement,  that  he  accompanied  Mrs. 
Westinghouse  one  day  on  a  trip  in  their  limousine 
from  Lenox,  Massachusetts,  to  Kingston,  New  York. 
The  chauffeur  happened  to  overlook  an  obscure  but 
deep  depression  in  the  road,  the  car  plunged  into  it, 
and  with  the  rebound  of  the  springs  the  passengers 
were  thrown  violently  out  of  their  seats,  Westinghouse 
striking  his  head  against  the  roof  with  a  force  which 
would  have  wounded  him  seriously  had  not  his  straw 
hat  served  for  a  buffer.  As  he  removed  the  ruined 
headgear  and  looked  ruefully  at  it,  his  first  thought 
appears  to  have  been  not  so  much  of  rebuking  the 


AIR  SPRINGS  AND  ADDRESSES          221 

chauffeur  as  of  condemning  a  machine  which  was 
capable  of  giving  its  occupants  such  an  experience. 
What  were  inflated  rubber  tires  for,  if  not  to  break 
the  jars  on  a  rough  road  ?  And  of  what  use  were 
the  best  of  steel  springs,  unless  they  would  prevent 
one  from  being  racked  to  pieces  between  holes  and 
hummocks?  Possibly  not  much  could  be  done  to 
improve  the  action  of  the  tires,  but  might  it  not  be 
possible  to  make  the  springs  more  efficient?  To 
this  question  he  addressed  himself  with  pencil  and 
drawing-board  immediately  on  reaching  Lenox  again. 
His  sketches  he  carried  later  to  Pittsburgh  and  had 
a  model  pair  of  springs  constructed,  which  he  brought 
to  Lenox  and  tested  on  the  limousine.  When  he  had 
tinkered  with  these  long  enough  to  locate  their 
chief  shortcomings,  he  made  another  pair ;  and 
thus,  swinging  between  Pittsburgh  and  Lenox,  he 
kept  up  his  alterations  and  experiments  till  he 
chanced  one  day  to  mention  the  matter  to  an  old 
friend,  who  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  heard 
of  a  spring  invented  by  a  mechanic  in  Watervliet, 
New  York. 

"No,"  he  answered.     "What  kind  of  a  spring?" 

"Compressed  air." 

There  was  magic  in  the  words.  The  memory 
of  his  old  successes  came  back  to  him  with  a  thrill, 
and  with  no  unnecessary  delay  he  visited  Watervliet 
and  hunted  up  the  inventor,  who  proved  to  be  a 
German  machinist  named  Richard  Liebau.  Look- 
ing over  the  model,  it  did  not  take  Westinghouse 
long  to  see  where  its  defects  lay. 

"You  have  a  valuable  invention  here,"  he  com- 


222  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

mented  with  characteristic  frankness,  "but  it  is 
crude  in  some  details.  For  one  thing,  it  leaks." 

Liebau  admitted  that  the  fault  was  a  bad  one, 
but  added  that  neither  he  nor  the  friends  who  had 
worked  with  him  had  been  able  to  hit  upon  any 
satisfactory  remedy  for  it,  though  they  had  tried 
many  devices. 

"Come  with  me  to  Pittsburgh,"  said  Westing- 
house,  "and  we'll  study  it  out  together."  And 
that  was  what  they  did. 

The  Liebau  device  was  of  elemental  simplicity 
in  arrangement,  consisting  of  four  air  cushions 
located  between  the  body  of  the  car  and  the  axles, 
one  at  each  corner.  The  cushions  were  metal 
cylinders,  with  pistons  working  in  them  so  that  the 
confined  air  acted  as  a  spring,  the  most  resilient 
medium  available.  The  particular  method  by  which 
the  leakage  was  cured  was  the  invention  of  West- 
inghouse ;  and  though  to  the  final  development  of 
the  air  spring  as  we  know  it  to-day  there  were  im- 
portant contributions  by  the  engineering  force  to 
whom  the  matter  was  delegated,  the  determining 
factor  was  supplied  by  the  head  of  the  house.  In 
his  earlier  experiments,  he  had  great  hope  of  being 
able  to  dispense  with  the  use  of  pneumatic  tires, 
and  with  this  end  in  view  he  fitted  two  or  three 
cars  with  air  springs  and  solid  tires  of  various  forms, 
and  also  invented  and  constructed  spring  wheels; 
but  though,  as  was  his  usual  habit  in  such  matters, 
he  dealt  with  the  subject  broadly  and  attacked  it 
from  every  point  of  view,  he  finally  became  con- 
vinced that  for  fast-running  pleasure  cars  there  had 


AIR  SPRINGS  AND  ADDRESSES          223 

not  yet  been  devised  any  substitute  for  pneumatic 
tires. 

A  company  was  formed  for  the  manufacture  of 
the  air  spring,  and  it  derives  a  pathetic  interest 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  last  considerable  undertak- 
ing of  the  kind  in  which  the  great  inventor  ever 
engaged.  It  proved  to  be  a  profitable  enterprise, 
and  since  his  death  his  son,  the  present  George 
Westinghouse,  has  been  its  president. 

It  was  only  after  his  release  from  the  heaviest  of 
his  executive  responsibilities  that  Westinghouse  may 
be  said  to  have  found  himself  as  a  public  speaker. 
During  the  most  active  years  of  his  busy  life  he  had 
been  called  upon  from  time  to  time  to  make  an  after- 
dinner  speech  at  a  gathering  of  his  associates,  or 
offer  a  few  words  of  welcome  when  a  party  of  foreign 
visitors  were  to  be  entertained.  We  have  seen  how 
he  dreaded  facing  an  audience  with  even  the  most 
informal  of  utterances,  and  he  discredited  every 
assurance  given  him  by  his  hearers  that  he  had 
acquitted  himself  well  and  needed  only  a  little  more 
assurance  to  do  better  yet.  One  virtue  of  his 
speeches  lay  in  their  always  dealing  with  some  sub- 
ject with  which  he  was  thoroughly  familiar,  and, 
thanks  to  his  lack  of  artificial  training,  he  expounded 
his  views  with  a  directness  that  atoned  for  any 
inelegances  of  expression.  These  facts  alone  would 
have  sufficed  to  account  for  the  frequency  of  the 
demands  made  upon  him  now  that  he  was  supposed 
to  have  more  leisure  than  of  old ;  but  another 
factor  of  quite  as  much  importance  was  the  wide- 
spread desire  among  his  professional  colleagues  to 


224  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

prove  that,  whatever  estimate  the  commercial  world 
might  put  upon  his  work  as  a  financier,  their  admira- 
tion of  him  as  an  engineer  and  their  affection  for 
him  as  a  man  had  suffered  no  diminution.  On 
every  occasion  which  would  afford  them  a  pretext, 
therefore,  they  called  upon  him  for  an  address,  and 
to  not  a  few  calls  he  responded.  His  themes  were 
happily  chosen  to  fit  the  situation  and  the  times, 
and  his  treatment  of  them  was  appropriately  practical. 

His  installation  as  president  of  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  occurred  soon 
after  the  Taft  administration  had  begun  its  sweeping 
war  upon  alleged  offenders  against  the  antitrust 
law ;  and  the  kernel  of  his  address  on  taking  the 
chair  was  a  declaration  that  "  there  never  was  a 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  honest,  wise, 
and  conservative  action  is  more  strongly  demanded 
of  us  and  of  all  men  than  now,  if  we  have  any  desire 
to  preserve  the  right  to  carry  on  comfortably  our 
various  affairs/' 

At  a  dinner  of  the  American  Engineering  Societies 
held  the  following  year  in  Boston,  he  expanded 
this  point.  "For  many  years,"  said  he,  "the  tend- 
encies have  been  strongly  toward  large  and  power- 
ful railway  and  industrial  combinations.  Their 
very  magnitude,  coupled  with  the  evil  practices  so 
frequently  disclosed  in  the  press  and  in  our  law 
courts,  has  so  aroused  the  public  that  there  is  now 
a  fixed  determination  to  establish  by  national  and 
State  laws  an  exacting  governmental  control  of 
practically  all  forms  of  corporations,  in  order  that 
competition  may  be  encouraged  and  not  stifled, 


AIR  SPRINGS  AND  ADDRESSES          225 

but  seemingly  with  due  regard  to  the  real  objects 
in  view  —  the  securing  of  the  best  public  service 
in  all  forms,  the  best  foods  and  goods  for  our  daily 
needs,  the  greatest  possible  comfort  to  the  masses, 
and  as  great  freedom  as  possible  from  those  restric- 
tions which  hinder  rather  than  promote  honest 
endeavor.  Many  of  the  hardships  which  will  arise 
might  have  been  avoided  by  those  responsible  for 
the  creation  of  great  combinations  had  they  ap- 
preciated the  inevitable  consequences  of  their  selfish 
and  unwise  course  in  suppressing  competition  by 
methods  transparently  wrong.  But  fortunately 
there  are  indications  that  the  great  leaders  are  alive 
to  the  importance  of  the  regulation  of  legislation, 
and  the  creation  of  a  sentiment  which  will  bring 
business  men  to  their  senses.  The  engineering 
societies,  by  joint  action,  have  it  in  their  power  to 
do  much.  Probably  there  is  no  better  way  than  to 
show,  from  their  knowledge  and  experience,  that  un- 
regulated competition  and  rivalry  in  business  have 
made  our  costs  greater  and  rendered  ideal  conditions 
in  industrial  and  engineering  matters  most  difficult 
of  realization. 

"I  need  only  call  your  attention  to  the  effects 
of  this  unregulated  competition  in  one  great  in- 
dustry--the  electrical --which  has  grown  up  in 
less  than  twenty-five  years.  No  user  of  electrical 
apparatus  can  fail  to  appreciate  the  advantage  it 
would  be  to  him,  when  some  repair  part  is  needed, 
if  certain  standards  were  followed  by  all  constructors 
with  reference  to  equivalent  devices;  but  it  is 
lamentable  to  say  that  with  the  single  exception 


226  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

of  uniform  bases  for  incandescent  lamps,  there  are 
now  practically  no  standards.  The  vast  majority 
of  our  inventors  proceed  along  independent  lines, 
with  the  result  of  a  constantly  growing  confusion, 
to  the  disadvantage  of  everybody/' 

By  way  of  illustrating  the  evils  of  this  unsys- 
tematic mode  of  proceeding,  the  speaker  cited  the 
case  of  one  large  electrical  company  which  manu- 
factured a  standard  motor,  yet  whose  customers 
were  continually  requesting  estimates  on  special 
motors  embracing  some  particular  feature  of  a  motor 
made  by  another  manufacturer.  These  special  es- 
timates, even  on  motors  of  less  than  two-hundred 
horse  power,  amounted  in  a  single  year  to  about  ten 
thousand  in  number,  involving  departures  from  the 
standard  motor  in  horse  powder  or  speed  rating,  or 
dimensions  of  base,  or  dimensions  over  all,  or  height 
from  base  to  center  of  shaft,  or  weight,  or  method 
of  lubrication,  or  size  of  shaft,  or  guaranty  of  per- 
formance. Such  demands,  of  course,  laid  a  heavy 
burden  upon  the  manufacturer,  and  inconvenienced 
the  purchaser  by  increased  expense  and  delayed 
deliveries;  and  the  experience  of  the  company 
alluded  to  was  paralleled  by  that  of  fifty  others, 
every  one  of  which  had  its  individual  patterns  and 
designs,  so  that  probably  fifty  thousand  needless 
variations  in  motors  alone  had  required  an  addition 
of  many  millions  of  dollars  to  the  investment  already 
made  in  installations  of  electrical  machinery. 

The  speaker  ended  with  a  plea  for  cooperation 
among  electrical  engineers  and  manufacturers  by 
some  means  like  an  interchange  of  products  and  a 


AIR  SPRINGS  AND   ADDRESSES          227 

system  of  license  agreements  enabling  one  to  obtain 
the  use  of  another's  patents  on  the  payment  of  a 
royalty.  And  in  order  to  establish  a  mutual  working 
basis  equally  fair  to  all,  he  believed  that  the  parties 
in  interest,  instead  of  calling  for  more  Government 
regulation,  might  better  organize  a  well-equipped 
and  officered  bureau  of  standardization  and  main- 
tain it  at  their  joint  expense. 

The  same  central  idea  animated  several  other 
speeches  made  during  the  same  period.  Coopera- 
tion and  standardization  seemed  to  Westinghouse 
the  crying  needs  of  the  hour  in  all  industries,  in 
view  of  their  saving  of  waste  in  money,  thought,  and 
effort.  In  an  address  prepared  for  delivery  at  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers  with  the  Institution  of  Mechanical  En- 
gineers in  London  in  the  summer  of  1910,  he  took 
for  his  subject  "The  Electrification  of  Railways", 
and  devoted  himself  to  showing  the  imperative 
need  for  the  selection  of  one  electric  system  for 
universal  use.  Referring  to  the  ambition  once  cher- 
ished by  certain  railway  managers  to  individualize 
their  roads  by  adopting  for  them  gauges  which  would 
prevent  the  cars  and  locomotives  of  connecting 
lines  from  trespassing  on  their  tracks,  he  recalled 
the  fact  that,  as  lately  as  1878,  there  were  in  the 
United  States  eleven  different  gauges  beside  the 
standard  gauge  of  4  feet  8-J  inches  adopted  by 
Stephenson  and  since  become  general.  When  the 
necessity  for  unification  came  to  be  recognized,  the 
cost  of  changing  gauges  was  very  burdensome  to 
the  roads  which  had  it  to  do,  in  some  instances 


228  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

fastening  a  permanent  debt  upon  them.  He  laid 
down  as  five  fundamental  requisites  for  standardiz- 
ing steam  lines :  a  standard  gauge  of  track,  a  stand- 
ard of  interchangeable  type  of  coupling  for  vehicles, 
a  uniform  interchangeable  type  of  brake  apparatus, 
interchangeable  heat  apparatus,  and  a  uniform 
system  of  train  signals.  To  these  must  be  added, 
in  the  case  of  electric  railways,  three  more  :  a  supply 
of  electricity  of  uniform  quality  as  to  voltage  and 
periodicity  ;  conductors  for  this,  so  uniformly  placed 
with  reference  to  the  rails  that,  without  change  of 
any  kind,  an  electrically-fitted  locomotive  or  car  can 
collect  its  supply  of  current  when  on  the  lines  of 
other  companies ;  and  uniform  apparatus  for  con- 
trol of  electric  supply,  whereby  two  or  more  elec- 
trically-fitted locomotives  or  cars  from  different 
lines  can  be  operated  together  from  one  locomotive 
or  car. 

His  repeated  prophecy  of  the  ultimate  electrifica- 
tion of  all  the  great  railways  remains  still  unfulfilled, 
but  many  transportation  experts  who  scoffed  at  the 
notion  when  he  first  broached  it  afterward  admitted 
to  him  that  the  change  would  be  only  a  question  of 
time.  In  the  light  of  this,  it  seemed  to  him  all  im- 
portant that  the  choice  of  the  uniform  system  should 
be  made  without  more  delay.  Railway  electrifica- 
tion, he  argued,  had  so  far  been  limited  to  small 
areas,  usually  where  the  unsuitableness  of  steam 
locomotives  for  tunnel  and  terminal  service  had 
compelled  the  substitution  of  electric  motors  there ; 
but  these  limited  zones  were  expanding  and  after 
a  time  would  meet ;  and  then  the  same  conditions 


AIR  SPRINGS  AND   ADDRESSES          229 

which  had  compelled  the  adoption  of  certain  common 
standards  for  the  steam  railways  would  apply  still 
more  forcibly  to  the  electric  railways,  and  the  cost 
of  altering  everything  over  would  be  a  very  serious 
matter. 

Another  favorite  line  followed  by  Westinghouse 
in  his  prophecies  had  to  do  with  the  progressively 
increasing   use   of  electricity   in   quarters  where   at 
first  it  had  been  slow  in  making  its  way.     This  was 
the  burden  of  his  speech  to  the  Southern  Commercial 
Congress   at  Atlanta  in   the  spring  of   1911.     The 
South,  said  he,  was  abundantly  blessed  with  coal 
mines    and    waterfalls,    and    from    these    resources 
could  be  drawn  the  vital  forces  of  industry  and  trans- 
portation.    The  magic  agent  which  would  take  the 
energy  of  the  South's  hidden  coal,  her  air,  and  her 
falling  water,  carry  it  by  easy  channels,  and  cause 
it  to  give  the  light  of  a  million  candles  and  the  power 
of  a  thousand  men,  move  great  loads  faster  than 
horses  can  travel,  produce  heat  without  combustion, 
and  unlock  chemical  bonds  and  release  new  materials, 
was  electricity.     The  water  courses  in  the  Appala- 
chian Mountains  could  be  made  to  develop  from  five 
to  seven  million  horse  power  during  the  dry  seasons 
of  the  year  and  a  much  larger  quantity  at  other  times. 
By  the  use  of  the  alternating  current,  enough  power 
could  be  taken  from  a  single  dynamo  for  operating 
telephone  and   telegraph  lines,   for  producing  light 
and  heat,  for  running  street  cars  and  railway  trains, 
for  working  mines  and  mills  and  factories,  and  for 
electrochemical   operations.     As  it  was   possible  to 
transmit  power  hundreds  of  miles  from  its  source, 


230  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

water  courses  unavailable  for  other  uses  because  of 
their  inaccessibility  or  unwholesome  surroundings 
could  be  made  to  furnish  power  to  distant  cities, 
and  run  factories  planted  on  high  and  healthful 
sites,  or  on  the  outskirts  of  any  town  where  labor  is 
most  plentiful  and  transportation  facilities  are  best. 
He  mentioned  one  power  company  in  the  South 
which  at  that  time  was  drawing  power  from  a  number 
of  different  streams  in  different  States,  and  lighting 
forty-five  cities  and  towns,  and  furnishing  current 
for  six  street-railway  systems,  besides  keeping  hun- 
dreds of  motors  at  work  for  miscellaneous  purposes. 

Lines  of  industry  which  could  be  successfully 
developed  in  the  South  by  electric  power,  he  added, 
were  gold,  copper,  iron,  and  coal  mining ;  ore  re- 
duction ;  food  canning ;  manufacturing  textiles, 
cement,  fertilizers,  lumber,  furniture,  paper,  shoes 
and  leather,  and  agricultural  implements ;  iron  and 
steel  making ;  road  building,  and  oil  refining.  More- 
over, experiments  made  by  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  indicated 
that  the  electric  stimulation  of  plant  growth  might 
yet  be  made  to  produce  wonderful  results. 

This  was  his  last  notable  public  address,  and  its 
concluding  passages  are  significant  for  their  revela- 
tion of  the  backward  and  forward  movements  of  his 
mind.  His  painful  memories  of  the  close  of  his 
connection  with  his  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company  were  reflected  in  an  "earnest~plea  for  cumu- 
lative voting  in  the  government  of  corporations,  as 
a  protection  for  the  minority  stockholders  against 
the  machinations  of  a  majority  clique.  The  final 
sentence  of  all  has  a  most  interesting  ring  in  these 


AIR  SPRINGS  AND   ADDRESSES          231 

days  when  militarism  and  preparedness  are  upper- 
most topics  of  popular  discussion.  Impressing  upon 
young  men  the  importance  of  learning  the  lessons 
of  self-restraint  and  obedience  to  authority,  and 
drawing  for  illustration  upon  the  value  of  his  own 
experiences  as  a  soldier,  he  said:  "The  present 
preeminence  of  Germany  in  industrial  matters  arises 
very  largely  from  the  military  training  and  discipline 
to  which  each  of  her  citizens  must  submit." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A  BIG  MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE 

AN  evening  I  shall  always  remember  was  passed 
in  Pittsburgh  late  in  January,  1916.  ^The  occasion 
was  an  annual  dinner  of  the  Veteran  Employees* 
Association  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Man- 
ufacturing Company,  to  whose  membership  those 
persons  are  eligible  who  have  been  in  the  Company's 
employ  for  twenty  years  or  longer.  Several  hundred 
diners,  including  a  small  group  of  guests  at  the 
speakers'  table,  sat  down  together,  and  a  more  im- 
pressive gathering  I  never  attended.  The  strong, 
intelligent,  and  interested  faces,  the  manly  and 
mutually  courteous  bearing  of  these  men  of  the 
bench  and  the  machine  shop,  conveyed  the  finest 
of  lessons  in  true  American  democracy ;  and  the 
speeches  which  followed  the  clearing  of  the  tables 
told  a  yet  more  eloquent  story,  for  they  explained 
what  had  held  this  body  of  workers  at  their  posts 
so  many  years  in  an  era  of  fitful  change.  Every 
speaker  had  his  contribution,  large  or  small,  to  add 
to  the  common  fund  of  reminiscence,  and  every 
story  had  for  its  central  figure  one  powerful  per- 
sonality;  and  the  acme  was  reached  when,  with 
an  appropriate  introduction,  the  curtain  which 
concealed  a  large  object  hanging  against  the  wall 


A   BIG   MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE  233 

in  the  rear  of  the  hall  was  drawn  aside,  and  revealed 
a  square  bronze  relief  portrait  of  the  hero  of  the 
evening,  George  Westinghouse. 

It  was  the  work  of  the  eminent  sculptor,  Lorado 
Taft,  and  contributed  by  the  Association  as  a  gift 
from  its  members  to  the  Company  they  had  served 
so  long,  to  be  hung  in  the  main  passageway  of  the 
mammoth  building  at  East  Pittsburgh,  where  every 
one  could  see  it  daily  in  going  to  and  from  his  work. 
It  represented  the  founder  in  the  attitude  he  always 
preferred  in  the  rare  instances  when  he  had  con- 
sented to  pose  for  a  picture  :  seated  in  an  armchair, 
his  hands  grasping  the  arms,  his  face  full  to  the  front, 
and  his  eyes  aimed  straight  into  those  of  his  vis-a-vis, 
as  if  he  had  paused  only  for  the  moment  in  passing, 
and  was  preparing  to  rise  and  move  on  again  as  soon 
as  released.  It  was  the  George  Westinghouse  of 
rapid  action  whom  they  all  knew  in  life  —  earnest, 
tense,  direct,  aggressive,  willful,  forward-looking, 
regardless  of  obstacles,  contemptuous  of  leisure, 
unsparing  of  self.  Nature  had  written  in  that  face 
the  faults  as  well  as  the  virtues  of  the  soul  behind  it. 
The  speeches  of  the  evening  had  been  equally  impar- 
tial in  their  reflection  of  both.  It  was  an  experience 
meeting,  not  a  mere  council  of  eulogy.  But  when 
the  whims  and  foibles,  the  eccentricities  and  incon- 
sistencies of  the  lost  leader  were  touched  upon,  it 
was  always  in  the  genial  spirit  of  real  affection,  and 
the  balance  cast  between  his  triumphs  and  his  failures 
left  nothing  to  be  desired  by  his  best  lover.  A  finer 
tribute  of  loyalty  to  one  who  was  no  longer  where 
he  could  respond  to  it  is  impossible  to  imagine. 


234  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Nor  was  this  sentiment  reserved  simply  for  public 
display.  Wherever  I  have  gone  among  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  Westinghouse  companies,  I  have 
found  the  same  attitude  toward  their  late  chief  on 
the  part  of  those  who  ever  came  into  personal  con- 
tact with  him,  no  matter  how  slightly ;  and  the  air 
of  Pittsburgh  is  surcharged  today  with  Westing- 
house  legends  and  traditions,  of  which  I  cannot  at- 
tempt to  give  more  than  a  passing  hint. 

Though  modest  and  simple  in  manner,  and  friendly 
in  his  mode  of  approach  to  even  the  humblest  of  his 
employees,  able  to  call  a  multitude  of  them  by  their 
given  names,  and  everywhere  known  among  them 
as  "the  Boss"  or  "the  Old  Man",  not  one  would 
have  ventured  upon  an  unbecoming  familiarity 
with  him.  Nature  had  stamped  him  with  a  dignity 
which  made  even  the  suggestion  of  such  a  thing 
impossible  ;  yet  there  was  not  a  man  who  was  afraid 
to  come  to  him  frankly  when  there  was  something 
that  needed  saying.  It  might  be  to  meet  a  rebuff 
at  the  outset,  but  justice  was  sure  to  come  later. 

Tucked  in  among  the  works  at  East  Pittsburgh 
stood  for  some  years  an  unpretentious  den  known 
as  "the  Old  Man's  shop."  To  it  Westinghouse 
would  repair  when  he  came  to  the  Works  with  an 
idea  in  mind  to  which  he  wished  to  give  his  undivided 
attention  for  a  while.  Thirty  or  forty  mechanics 
and  draftsmen  were  within  speaking  distance,  ready 
at  his  call  to  drop  whatever  they  were  at  and  proceed 
to  the  development  of  his  latest  conceit.  It  made 
no  difference  where  he  was  —  in  New  York  or 
Washington,  or  up  in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  or  traveling 


A   BIG  MAN'S   HUMAN   SIDE  235 

in  his  "  movie  home",  the  private  car,  Glen  Eyre  - 
his  secretary  was  at  his  elbow ;  and  when  a  thought 
of  apparent  value  occurred  to  him,  he  either  dictated 
an  outline  of  it,  or  sat  down  and  made  a  sketch  to 
mail  to  his  experimental  laboratory  from  that  next 
stopping-place,  preceding  this  if  possible  with  full 
instructions  by  long-distance  telephone,  directly 
to  the  foreman  whom  he  intrusted  with  the  trans- 
lation of  the  theory  into  solid  metal.  Many 
amusing  stories  are  told  of  this  habit.  "If  Mr. 
Westinghouse,"  said  one  of  his  foremen  the  other  day, 
"telephoned  that  a  certain  minor  part  was  to  be  one 
sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  on  his  arrival 
he  found  it  one  eighth  of  an  inch,  he  would  send  for 
the  man  responsible  for  tampering  with  his  orders, 
and  demand  his  reasons.  If  they  were  insufficient, 
the  man  received  on  the  spot  some  candid  admoni- 
tions about  doing  what  he  was  told,  and  later  per- 
haps a  bit  of  discipline ;  but  if  he  made  out  a  good 
case  by  showing  that  his  change  was  wise,  he  was 
equally  likely  to  be  marked  for  promotion." 

A  tireless  and  rapid  worker  himself,  Westing- 
house  found  it  difficult  to  understand  any  different 
habit  on  the  part  of  a  subordinate.  He  was  chary 
of  direct  praise,  and  sometimes  when  a  man  had 
accomplished  what  would  generally  be  considered 
a  wonderful  feat,  he  would  show  no  appreciation  of 
the  effort.  One  day  he  sent  a  hurry  order  of  some 
magnitude  to  a  foreman  who,  anxious  to  make  a 
record,  set  to  work  at  it  instantly  with  a  gang  of 
picked  men.  For  two  days  and  two  nights  they 
labored  without  rest  and  almost  without  food. 


236  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Westinghouse  turned  up  before  the  job  was  quite 
complete  and  wanted  to  know  how  far  they  had  got 
with  it.  The  foreman,  with  a  thrill  of  pride,  showed 
him  the  almost  finished  machine.  His  only  comment 
was  a  whimsical :  "  Is  that  all  you've  done !" 

In  spite  of  this  outward  attitude,  he  was  inwardly 
most  appreciative  of  faithful  and  efficient  service. 
To  others  than  the  man  immediately  concerned,  he 
was  generous  in  awarding  commendation  where 
deserved,  and  his  habit  in  this  respect  was  felt  by 
some  of  his  older  associates  to  have  been  overdone 
in  favor  of  certain  newcomers  in  his  organizations 
before  there  had  been  a  real  test  of  their  merits. 

Of  a  skilled  mechanician  who  was  one  of  his  main- 
stays for  years,  he  once  demanded  : 

"Miller,  why  are  you  always  so  slow  about  getting 
out  any  job  I  order?  Why  can't  you  be  quick  as 
Herr  is?" 

And  of  Mr.  Herr,  the  next  time  they  met :  "Herr, 
why  on  earth  can't  you  take  example  from  Miller, 
and  do  things  promptly?" 

Soon  afterward,  the  two  men  chanced  to  come 
together  on  something,  and  Miller  asked  : 

"What  is  it  you  have  been  doing  for  the  Boss, 
Mr.  Herr,  that  makes  him  always  tell  me  how  much 
quicker  you  are  in  your  work  than  I  am?" 

"Why,  Miller,"  answered  Herr,  "that  was  the 
very  question  I  was  going  to  put  to  you!" 

On  one  occasion  Herr  got  the  better  of  these 
speeding-up  methods,  but  with  a  highly  character- 
istic sequel.  He  had  just  come  home  from  a  busi- 
ness trip  and  found  awaiting  him  a  message  from 


A   BIG  MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE  237 

his  chief,  who  also  had  been  out  of  town,  telling  him 
to  have  a  certain  casting  made  which  was  needed 
for  immediate  use  at  the  Switch  and  Signal  shops. 
It  was  Saturday  night,  but  Herr  lost  no  time  in 
opening  communication  with  one  of  the  foremen 
at  the  Air-Brake  Works  and  asking  him  whether  he 
could  not  call  a  few  men  together  and  put  this  job 
through.  The  foreman  did  so,  and  bright  and  early 
on  Sunday  morning  Herr  hastened  to  join  them  at 
the  Works. 

"Sam,"  he  inquired,  "how  far  along  have  you  got 
with  that  casting?" 

"It's  done,"  answered  the  foreman,  "but  it's 
.mighty  hot  still." 

"Never  mind  that.  Have  you  a  team  that  you 
can  hitch  up  at  once?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Then  carry  the  casting  down  to  the  Switch  and 
Signal  shops." 

The  foreman  obeyed.  A  few  minutes  later  West- 
inghouse  appeared. 

"Herr,"  said  he,  "did  you  get  my  message?" 

"I  did." 

"When  are  you  going  to  pour  that  casting?" 

"It's  poured  already." 

"Ha !     How  soon  can  you  get  it  out?" 

"It's  out." 

"Is  that  so?     Where  is  it?" 

"At  the  Switch  and  Signal  shop." 

The  speechlessness  with  which  Westinghouse  was 
smitten  for  perhaps  two  seconds,  betrayed  the  depth 
of  his  astonishment;  but  as  usual  he  expressed  no 


238  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

surprise,  and  bolting  forthwith  for  the  road,  he 
called  back  over  his  shoulder : 

"Well,  I'll  go  right  down  there  myself  and  hustle 
those  fellows  up!" 

Among  his  other  strictly  human  traits,  Westing- 
house  would  occasionally  act  on  first  impulse,  and 
not  with  the  wisdom  which  is  born  of  careful  con- 
sideration. He  was,  however,  quite  as  quick  to 
repent  as  to  act,  when  he  saw  he  was  in  error.  A 
foreman  who,  though  they  had  always  been  the  best 
of  friends,  happened  to  cross  his  path  in  one  of  his 
impulsive  moments,  received  a  severe  rating  for 
having  failed  to  perform  some  practical  impossi- 
bility. The  rebuke  itself  was  hard  enough  to  bear, 
but  might  have  been  overlooked  if  it  had  not  been 
hurled  at  the  man  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of 
his  underlings  —  a  circumstance  which  was  liable, 
in  his  judgment,  to  be  fatal  to  his  authority.  He 
sought  his  employer  a  few  minutes  later,  and  began, 
with  respect  in  his  manner  but  repressed  wrath  in 
his  voice : 

"I  think  the  time  has  come,  Mr.  Westinghouse, 
when  we  must  part  company.  I  can't  rest  quiet 
under  such  humiliation  as  you  put  upon  me  this 
morning.  I  am  not  obliged  to,  and  I  won't!" 

Westinghouse  looked  up  from  his  writing  with 
an  air  of  good-humored  deprecation. 

"Oh,  come  now!"  he  pleaded.  "Remember  that 
I  am  only  human.  When  things  go  wrong,  I  am 
apt  to  blow  off  my  feelings  at  the  first  person  that 
gets  in  the  way.  The  next  time  you  see  that  I  am 
in  a  bad  temper,  just  hurry  out  of  my  reach.  If  I 


A   BIG   MAN'S   HUMAN   SIDE  239 

try  to  follow  you  up,  don't  pay  any  attention  to  me, 
but  keep  right  on." 

Another  foreman  who  usually  was  noted  for 
minding  his  own  business  came  to  Westinghouse 
one  day  and  stated  his  suspicions,  with  the  specific 
facts  which  had  aroused  them,  that  certain  officers 
of  one  of  his  companies  in  whom  Westinghouse  had 
till  then  felt  the  utmost  confidence,  were  engaged 
in  systematic  graft.  Westinghouse  indignantly  re- 
fused to  listen  to  the  charges,  and  his  informant  went 
away  with  a  sense  of  having  blundered,  and  given 
offense  rather  than  assistance  to  the  chief.  Not 
very  long  thereafter,  Westinghouse  himself  stumbled 
upon  proofs  which  left  him  no  alternative  but  to 
realize  the  truth,  and  he  promptly  dismissed  the 
guilty  men  from  office.  Afterward  he  sought  the 
loyal  foreman  and  reproached  him  for  not  having 
insisted  at  first  upon  making  the  case  clear. 

"But,  Mr.  Westinghouse,"  protested  the  man, 
"I  said  all  I  could,  and  you  wouldn't  listen  to  me." 

"Why  on  earth  didn't  you  make  me  listen?" 
exclaimed  Westinghouse,  and  then  laughed  in  spite 
of  himself. 

Coming  into  the  Machine  Works  one  morning 
with  a  bundle  of  papers  in  his  hand,  Westinghouse 
summoned  Miller  to  his  workroom.  He  had  thought 
out  something  new  on  a  line  with  which  his  mind 
had  been  busy  since  childhood,  the  invention  of  a 
perfect  rotary  engine.  The  present  scheme  was 
more  elaborate  than  anything  he  had  ever  proposed 
before,  involving  an  extraordinary  internal  arrange- 
ment with  fans  and  other  unusual  accessories.  At 


240  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

his  request  Miller  gave  a  thorough  examination  to 
the  drawings  and  specifications  for  the  new  device. 

"I  want  a  model  made  like  that,"  said  the  in- 
ventor. 

"Do  you  realize  what  you  are  ordering,  Mr. 
Westinghouse ? "  asked  Miller.  "It  will  cost  a 
small  fortune  to  build  such  a  model." 

"Never  mind,  I  want  it  done." 

"But  the  thing  won't  work  in  any  event  as  you 
expect  it  to." 

"I  know  what  I  want.     Go  ahead  and  make  it." 

Accordingly  the  model  was  made,  at  a  large  ex- 
pense. It  did  not  take  Westinghouse  ten  minutes 
to  see  that  Miller's  warning  of  its  uselessness  had 
been  correct. 

"Mr.  Westinghouse,"  said  Miller,  "I  hated  to 
see  you  throw  your  money  into  the  ditch  like 
that." 

"Oh,"  answered  Westinghouse  cheerfully,  "it 
wasn't  thrown  away.  Think  how  many  men  it 
kept  employed ;  and  besides,  it  is  one  more  step 
toward  ultimate  success." 

As  has  been  indicated,  Westinghouse  was  a  strong 
believer  in  the  virtue  of  having  his  own  way.  He 
had  no  liking  for  advice ;  he  preferred  to  follow 
his  instincts  and  issue  his  commands  accordingly. 
There  were  a  certain  few  men,  however,  who  had 
made  a  mark  in  the  world  for  their  brilliancy  of 
achievement  on  whose  simple  dicta  he  was  some- 
times ready  to  hazard  a  large  stake.  One  of  these, 
an  English  physicist  of  great  renown,  had  demon- 
strated, through  the  process  of  reasoning,  that  the 


A   BIG   MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE  241 

extraction  of  heat  from  the  atmosphere  for  the  pur- 
pose of  developing  power  was  a  theoretical  possi- 
bility, and  had  in  a  general  way  indicated  the  method 
and  type  of  machines  that  would  be  required  in  the 
process.  He,  however,  stated  that  this  apparatus 
would  have  to  be  so  cumbersome  and  expensive  as 
to  make  the  scheme  of  no  practical  value.  West- 
inghouse  accepted  the  scientific  basis  as  sound, 
but  disagreed  with  respect  to  the  impossibility  of 
reducing  it  to  practice.  A  comprehensive  series 
of  futile  experiments,  during  which  many  ingenious 
devices  were  developed  and  constructed,  compelled 
him  to  admit  reluctantly  that  it  was  a  tougher  prob- 
lem than  he  had  anticipated,  and  he  finally  conceded 
that  his  scientific  friend  was  right,  in  both  premises 
and  conclusions. 

Westinghouse  was  so  expert  a  practical  mechanic 
that  when  he  laid  his  hand  actually  to  a  bit  of  con- 
struction the  men  who  worked  near  him  used  to 
say  with  a  chuckle:  "The  Boss  is  on  the  job;  all 
we  have  to  do  is  to  pass  him  the  tools."  In  the 
drafting  rooms  he  had  a  trick  of  dropping  down  at 
any  time  in  front  of  a  desk  and  busying  himself 
with  whatever  drawings  lay  on  its  surface.  Some- 
times he  would  reach  out  his  right  hand,  and,  with- 
out lifting  his  eyes  from  the  paper  before  him,  utter 
the  single  word:  "Pencil!"  The  draftsman  next 
him  would  place  a  pencil  in  the  outstretched  ringers, 
and  with  this  he  would  amend  the  drawing  in  some 
particular  or  outline  a  new  one  very  rapidly,  pausing 
only  when  he  discovered  that  he  had  made  a  mark 
which  he  had  better  change.  Then,  still  without 


242  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

the  slightest  diversion  of  the  eyes,  out  would  come 
the  hand  again,  and  with  it  the  single  word  :  "Rub- 
ber!" Into  the  hand  would  go  the  rubber  as  the 
pencil  had  gone  a  moment  earlier,  and  he  would 
erase  the  rejected  line,  brush  away  the  dust  with 
his  little  finger,  and  resume  drawing  in  a  silence  as 
profound  as  before. 

It  was  a  standing  joke  among  his  lieutenants 
that  they  never  could  guess  "where  the  Old  Man 
was  going  to  break  out  next/'  One  who  was  attend- 
ing to  some  business  in  Denver  suddenly  received, 
out  of  a  clear  sky,  a  telegram  ordering  him  to  go  to 
Idaho  and  hunt  up  a  certain  person,  and  referring 
him,  by  way  of  explanation,  to  an  article  published 
in  the  latest  issue  of  a  well-known  weekly  news- 
paper. This  proved  to  be  a  story  about  a  wonderful 
agricultural  discovery  recently  made.  An  Idaho 
farmer,  it  said,  having  gone  to  the  Yukon  country 
on  a  hunt  for  gold,  had  accidentally  stumbled  there 
upon  a  field  of  wheat  which,  for  height  of  stalk  and 
fullness  of  head,  excelled  anything  he  had  ever  seen 
or  heard  of.  He  carried  away  some  of  it,  and, 
after  his  return  to  Idaho,  planted  the  kernels ; 
their  yield  the  next  season  was  most  abundant, 
and  absolutely  true  to  type.  His  discovery,  the 
story  concluded,  had  caused  great  excitement 
among  the  Northwestern  farmers,  who  were  flock- 
ing to  his  ranch  and  buying  seed  of  him  at  one 
dollar  a  pound. 

The  recipient  of  the  telegram  went  to  Idaho  at 
once,  hunted  up  the  man,  and  found  him,  as  de- 
scribed, doing  a  thriving  business.  Later  com- 


A  BIG  MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE  243 

munications  from  Westinghouse  revealed  the  fact 
that  he  had  happened  to  read  the  article,  and  been 
suddenly  struck  with  a  fancy  for  buying  the  farmer's 
entire  stock  of  seed,  to  use  for  the  rapid  replenish- 
ment of  the  American  wheat  supply.  His  idea  was 
that  this  might  aid  to  solve  one  of  the  food  problems 
of  our  poor  by  making  it  possible  presently  to  reduce 
the  price  of  bread. 

All  who  have  worked  under  him  agree  as  to  the 
marvelous  gift  he  had  for  inspiring  his  subordinates. 
This  was  due  not  only  to  his  personal  magnetism, 
but  to  his  habit  of  giving  every  one  a  chance.  He 
used  to  take  heavy  contracts  for  things  that  would 
need  a  large  amount  of  development  work,  and  then 
call  upon  his  experts  to  turn  them  out ;  and  every 
man  knew  what  it  would  mean  to  make  a  success 
of  the  task.  Indeed,  the  reason  Westinghouse  was 
always  in  the  lead  among  the  inventors  of  his  genera- 
tion was  that  he  commanded  the  talents  and  the 
best  efforts  of  many  able  young  men  to  supplement 
his  own.  Toward  the  group  upon  whom  he  specially 
leaned  he  had  as  strong  a  sense  of  loyalty  as  they  had 
toward  him.  At  times  when  the  money  market 
was  tight  he  was  obliged  to  limit  their  cash  salaries 
to  dimensions  which  he  frankly  said  were  insufficient, 
but  he  would  make  it  up  to  them  by  generous  gifts 
of  stock. 

He  had  a  large  way  of  doing  everything.  Frank 
H.  Taylor,  who  in  February,  1902,  was  promoted 
to  be  second  vice-president  of  the  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Company,  preserves,  as  if  it  were  a  patent 
of  nobility,  a  very  short  letter  he  received  at  that 


244  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

time  from  Westinghouse,  stating  what  would  be  ex- 
pected of  him.  "The  duties  of  the  second  vice- 
president,"  ran  the  letter - 

"  will  be  general,  comprehending  the  important  con- 
tract relations  of  the  company,  the  sale  of  the  com- 
pany's products,  and  general  supervision  of  the 
company's  properties  and  operations,  wherever 
situated.  He  will  also  assume  final  responsibility, 
subject  to  the  president,  for  the  conduct  of  the 
general  offices,  and  the  purchasing,  store  and  cost 
departments ;  he  will  advise  with  the  other  officers 
with  respect  to  the  duties  assigned  to  them,  and 
will  participate  in  and  preside  at  the  meetings  of 
the  heads  of  the  various  branches  of  the  company's 
business." 

"Here,"  said  Mr.  Taylor,  in  showing  me  the 
letter,  "are  ten  lines  of  typewriting,  clearly  turning 
over  to  my  management  a  property  of,  say,  sixty 
million  dollars  in  value  —  an  example  of  simplicity 
and  directness  of  thought  and  expression  which  it 
would  be  hard  to  match." 

Nikola  Tesla,  who  perfected  his  inventions  in 
alternating-current  apparatus  while  associated  with 
George  Westinghouse  and  receiving  his  financial 
support,  once  publicly  paid  his  patron  this  cordial 
tribute :  "He  is  one  of  those  few  men  who  conscien- 
tiously respect  intellectual  property,  and  who  ac- 
quire their  right  to  use  inventions  by  fair  and  equi- 
table means.  .  .  .  Had  other  industrial  firms  and 
manufacturers  been  as  just  and  liberal  as  Mr.  West- 
inghouse, I  should  have  had  many  more  of  my  in- 
ventions in  use  than  I  now  have." 

The  same  sort  of  testimony  is  heard  wherever 


A  BIG  MAN'S  HUMAN  SIDE  245 

one  goes.  Hugh  Rodman,  for  instance,  founder 
and  head  of  the  Rodman  Chemical  Company  of 
East  Pittsburgh,  described  to  me  his  experience  in 
these  words : 

"For  several  years  I  was  research  engineer  for 
the  Machine  Company,  making  such  investigations 
as  Mr.  Westinghouse  or  the  management  directed, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  turning  over  the  results 
to  the  company.  One  investigation  carried  me  to 
the  case-hardening  department,  where,  after  con- 
siderable work,  I  developed  patentable  processes 
and  materials  which  apparently  had  commercial 
value  apart  from  the  company's  ordinary  activities. 
These  I  reported  as  usual,  and  the  question  was 
raised  as  to  who  properly  owned  them.  I  held  that, 
as  the  company  was  not  interested  in  chemical 
manufacturing,  it  should  retain  only  a  working  right 
to  the  processes,  leaving  me  to  patent  them  for  my 
own  benefit  in  other  respects.  The  company  argued 
that,  its  money  and  equipment  having  been  used, 
the  processes  belonged  to  it.  We  appealed  to  Mr. 
Westinghouse  as  arbitrator.  His  decision  was  that, 
though  the  company  might  legally  maintain  its 
right  to  the  inventions,  he  would  make  no  move  to 
do  so,  and  he  not  only  turned  over  to  me  the  entire 
rights  in  the  inventions,  but  offered  me  enough 
capital  to  erect  and  run  a  small  factory,  of  which  he 
left  me  in  full  control.  I  feel  great  satisfaction  in 
adding  that  the  investment  proved  worth  while, 
and  in  bearing  this  witness  to  his  fine  generosity!" 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
"THE  OLD  MAN"  AND  His  EMPLOYEES 

WHEN  George  Westinghouse  established  himself 
in  business  as  a  manufacturer  of  air  brakes,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1870,  he  had  a  rather  primitive  establishment. 
The  first  mechanic  he  hired  was  Christopher  Horrocks, 
who  at  this  writing  is  still  in  active  service  at  the 
Air  Brake  Works  in  Wilmerding,  as  keenly  interested 
in  his  duties  and  as  full  of  enthusiasm  as  he  ever  was. 
When  he  came  in,  the  factory  was  near  the  corner  of 
Liberty  Avenue  and  Twenty-fifth  Street,  in  a  build- 
ing of  which  the  main  walls  are  standing  today ; 
it  was  then,  he  says,  unfinished,  the  brickwork  being 
up  but  neither  window-framing  nor  doors  being  in 
place.  The  equipment  consisted  of  "a  steam  engine 
about  the  size  of  a  kitchen  chair,  a  boiler  two  sheets 
in  length,  and  a  section  of  shafting."  One  man  — 
Ralph  Baggaley,  whose  acquaintance  we  have  al- 
ready made  —  constituted  the  entire  office  force ; 
another,  named  Welsh,  combined  the  functions  of 
time-keeper,  foreman,  and  superintendent ;  and  Hor- 
rocks was  the  "horny-fisted  son  of  toil"  who  did  the 
work  requiring  brawn  and  muscle. 

By  degrees  other  men  were  brought  in,  till  the  shop 
began  to  assume  a  very  busy  air.  Young  Westing- 
house  was  so  approachable  and  pleasant-mannered 


"THE   OLD   MAN"   AND   HIS   EMPLOYEES     247 

as  to  command  the  most  cordial  liking  from  his  little 
staff.  He  also  introduced  several  innovations  which 
naturally  heightened  this  feeling.  After  his  return 
from  his  first  visit  to  England,  for  instance,  he  an- 
nounced that  work  would  be  suspended  every  Satur- 
day at  noon,  so  that  the  men  could  have  a  half-holiday 
to  enjoy  as  they  pleased  without  trespassing  upon 
their  Sunday  rest.  It  was  the  first  move  of  that  kind 
that  had  ever  been  made  in  Pittsburgh,  and,  so  far 
as  known,  in  the  United  States,  and  it  proved  not 
only  popular  but  in  a  larger  sense  profitable,  for  it 
gave  the  new  shop  a  unique  distinction  among  the 
local  industries.  Meanwhile,  in  the  autumn  of  the 
first  year,  he  had  invited  the  entire  force,  by  that 
time  embracing  fifteen  men,  to  dine  with  him  at  one 
of  the  city  hotels  on  Thanksgiving  day.  The  dinner 
was  in  the  interest  of  sociability  and  mutual  under- 
standing, and  was  repeated  annually  till  it  became 
impracticable  on  account  of  increasing  numbers ; 
as  a  substitute,  the  practice  was  adopted  of  presenting 
every  employee,  great  or  small,  with  a  turkey  to 
crown  his  Thanksgiving  dinner  with  his  family. 

This  custom  continued  for  more  than  thirty  years ; 
but  the  pay  roll  meanwhile  had  swelled  steadily  till 
the  fowls  to  be  given  away  exceeded  a  dozen  tons  in 
weight,  and  were  brought  to  the  distributing  point 
in  big  refrigerator  cars.  Also,  there  had  become 
connected  with  the  Works  not  merely  the  generation 
they  started  with,  but  its  successor ;  and,  on  the  per 
capita  basis  of  allotment,  several  turkeys  were  liable 
to  find  their  way  into  a  single  family,  while  another, 
perhaps  larger,  would  get  only  one.  A  certain  father, 


248  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

for  example,  had  seven  unmarried  sons  working  with 
him  in  the  Air  Brake  shops,  and  to  that  household 
went  eight  turkeys,  though  only  one  or  two  could  be 
put  to  beneficial  use.  From  such  lavishness  sprang 
up  a  habit,  in  large  families,  of  resorting  to  some 
device  like  a  shooting-match,  a  rafHe,  or  a  game  of 
cards,  for  disposing  of  their  surplus  poultry.  At  the 
suggestion  of  John  F.  Miller,  then  secretary  of  the 
Company  but  now  its  president,  Mr.  Westinghouse 
decided  to  call  a  halt  on  what  was  becoming  a  serious 
abuse,  and  to  substitute  for  it  a  pension  system,  for 
which  the  ten  thousand  dollars  or  thereabout  that 
had  been  annually  spent  on  turkeys,  if  suitably 
capitalized,  would  make  a  very  comfortable  nucleus. 
The  principal  sum  thus  evolved,  amounting  to  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars,  was  set  aside  and 
so  invested  as  to  produce  a  regular  annual  income, 
from  which  were  paid  pensions,  ranging  from  twenty 
to  one  hundred  dollars  a  month,  to  all  employees 
who  had  rendered  long  and  faithful  service  and  be- 
come disabled,  or  reached  the  age  of  retirement 
-  voluntary  at  sixty-five  years,  or  compulsory  at 
seventy.  The  widows,  children,  and  other  dependent 
relatives  of  the  pensioners  were  placed  on  the  roll 
at  rates  that  varied  according  to  specified  conditions. 
The  company  made  itself  responsible  for  the  pension 
fund  and  for  any  deficiencies  of  income  that  might 
occur. 

Prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  pension  system, 
there  was  established  a  relief  department,  which, 
though  the  company  assumed  the  cost  of  foundation 
and  maintenance,  and  held  the  principal  fund  in 


"THE  OLD   MAN"   AND   HIS   EMPLOYEES     249 

trust  and  paid  interest  on  it,  was  relieved  of  all  taint 
of  gratuity  by  a  roll  of  supporting  membership,  like 
a  mutual  insurance  association.  Both  fees  and  bene- 
fits were  graded  according  to  the  wages  or  salaries 
of  the  members,  and  varied  from  a  fee  of  fifty  cents 
a  month,  earning  benefits  of  $5  a  week  for  a  disabled 
member,  to  a  monthly  fee  of  $1.50  with  a  weekly 
benefit  of  $15  ;  and  on  the  death  of  any  member,  of 
whatever  class,  $150  was  paid  to  his  heirs.  Medical 
examinations  were  made,  and  attendance  in  case  of 
accident  furnished,  free  of  charge  to  the  members, 
by  a  physician  or  surgeon  at  the  headquarters  of 
the  department.  These  advantages  were  later  dupli- 
cated in  the  main  by  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  but  the  Air  Brake  Company  has  enlarged 
and  liberalized  them  by  degrees  till  in  many  respects 
they  are  today  unique  in  the  industrial  world. 

At  all  the  Westinghouse  works,  the  ideal  kept  con- 
stantly in  view  was  cooperation.  The  desire  of  the 
founder,  as  manifested  in  such  ways  as  I  have  just 
been  describing,  was  to  have  every  person  connected 
with  one  of  his  companies,  whether  as  officer,  agent, 
or  employee,  feel  that  he  was  part  of  the  concern, 
that  its  interests  were  his  interests,  and  that  its 
personnel  was  one  big  family.  To  that  end  every 
proper  encouragement  was  given  to  the  workmen 
to  organize  clubs  and  societies  among  themselves 
for  the  promotion  of  good  fellowship  and  the  per- 
petuation of  the  memories  of  old  times.  The  effect 
of  such  a  policy  shows  itself  in  the  pride  with  which 
the  older  men  in  the  works  refer  to  their  long  connec- 
tion with  their  Company,  much  as  so  many  veteran 


250  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

servants  of  the  Government  point  to  the  stars  and 
chevrons  they  wear.  It  was  in  pursuance  of  this 
cooperative  ideal  not  less  than  for  the  moral  and 
physical  good  to  be  derived  from  them,  that  the 
Westinghouse  companies  have  spent  large  sums  on 
Christian  Association  and  Welfare  buildings,  and 
presented  them  to  the  communities  adjacent  to  their 
works,  so  that  the  employees  and  their  families  could 
have  facilities  fof  wholesome  recreation  out  of 
working  hours. 

Another  ambition  entertained  by  George  Westing- 
house  was  to  educate  his  own  people,  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable, for  their  duties  under  him,  instead  of  leaving 
them  to  pick  up  their  technical  instruction  hap- 
hazard. More  has  been  done  in  this  direction  by 
the  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company  and  the 
Machine  Company  than  by  any  other  of  the  Westing- 
house  corporations  —  doubtless  because  the  work 
there  required  more  systematically  trained  faculties. 
In  East  Pittsburgh  is  maintained  a  technical  night 
school  which  offers,  at  a  nominal  expense,  a  very 
good  drill  in  the  fundamentals  of  mathematics,  en- 
gineering, shop  practice,  and  mechanical  work,  to 
any  youth  who  is  unable  to  study  in  the  daytime ; 
the  boys  who  attend  it  fraternize  like  members  of  a 
college  class,  and  get  a  great  deal  of  social  enjoyment 
as  well  as  mental  stimulation  out  of  their  connection 
with  it.  The  Machine  Company  supports  an  ap- 
prenticeship course  for  male  pupils  sixteen  years  of 
age  or  older.  The  apprentices  are  required  to  sign 
articles  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  are  paid  at  a 
modest  rate  for  every  hour  they  work,  and  at  the 


"THE  OLD   MAN"   AND   HIS   EMPLOYEES     251 

close  of  a  successful  course  receive  a  present  of  $100. 
Mr.  C.  R.  Dooley,  an  alumnus  of  a  Western  univer- 
sity, with  a  technical  education  and  a  strong  bent 
for  teaching  and  social  enterprises,  makes  an  annual 
tour  of  the  colleges  of  the  country,  picking  up  mem- 
bers of  their  graduating  classes  who  have  a  taste  for 
some  line  of  engineering,  and  who  seem  to  offer 
promising  material  for  the  Westinghouse  working 
corps.  If  they  are  taken  on,  he  keeps  in  close  touch 
with  them  through  the  medium  of  a  young  men's 
club  of  which  he  is  an  active  manager. 

Nor  are  the  girls  in  the  works  overlooked  in  the 
general  welfare  scheme.  They  have  a  school  where, 
for  a  few  dollars  a  year,  they  can  put  in  their  after- 
noons and  evenings  studying  the  commercial  branches 
or  stenography,  typewriting,  cooking,  sewing,  house- 
hold art,  or  music.  Though  not  an  advertised  cham- 
pion of  the  cause  commonly  known  as  "women's 
rights",  Westinghouse  always  had  strongly  at  heart 
the  interests  of  the  women  in  his  employ,  aiming  not 
only  to  give  every  one  of  them  her  chance,  but  seeing 
to  it  that  she  had  everything  within  reason  done  for 
her  health  and  comfort.  When  he  built  his  works 
at  East  Pittsburgh,  almost  the  first  thing  he  noticed 
in  inspecting  their  outside  appearance  was  the  ab- 
sence of  proper  sidewalks  and  overhead  protection. 
"This  won't  do,"  said  he.  "We  employ  a  great 
many  women,  and  when  it  storms  they  will  be  ex- 
posed to  the  rain  in  their  thin  dresses,  or  walk  in 
unprotected  shoes  from  the  doors  to  the  car-tracks. 
They  will  catch  cold,  and  if  any  harm  comes  to  them 
it  will  be  our  fault.  We  must  have  a  viaduct."  So, 


252  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

although  the  buildings  had  already  cost  so  much 
that  he  was  under  sharp  criticism  from  his  shorter- 
sighted  stockholders,  a  fine  steel  and  concrete  viaduct 
went  up  without  delay ;  and  many  a  young  woman 
undoubtedly  owes  her  immunity  from  illness  to  his 
thoughtfulness. 

Perhaps  the  most  characteristic  provision  made 
for  the  girls  is  the  lunch-room  at  the  Electric  and 
Manufacturing  Works,  where  they  can  take  their 
noon  meal  under  restful  and  economical  conditions. 
It  stands  at  the  end  of  a  spacious  aisle,  and  contains 
thirty-five  tables  with  accommodations  for  more 
than  a  thousand  women.  The  tables  are  neatly 
covered  with  enameled  oilcloth,  and  hot  coffee, 
sugar,  and  cream  are  contributed  by  the  Company, 
together  with  two  maid-servants  to  keep  the  room 
in  order,  heat  the  coffee,  wash  the  dishes,  etc.  What 
gives  it  its  distinctive  Westinghouse  touch  is  the  way 
the  work  of  attendance  is  methodized  so  that  the 
two  maids  can  do  it  all  without  difficulty.  The  coffee 
is  heated  in  fifteen-gallon  urns,  and  carried  to  the 
tables  on  a  truck  specially  designed  for  the  purpose, 
provided  with  pneumatic  tires  and  springs  to  prevent 
breaking  or  chipping  the  chinaware ;  and  when  the 
lunchers  disperse  the  dishes  go  into  a  machine 
operated  by  a  motor  and  controlled  by  one  of  the 
maids,  which  washes  and  dries  them  automatically. 

The  fact  that  the  works  of  the  Air  Brake  Company, 
the  Union  Switch  and  Signal  Company,  the  Electric 
and  Manufacturing  Company,  and  the  Machine 
Company,  though  in  separate  boroughs,  practically 
adjoin  one  another  along  a  line  of  railroad  that  runs 


"THE   OLD   MAN"   AND   HIS   EMPLOYEES     253 

through  Turtle  Creek  Valley,  not  only  gives  them  a 
community  of  interest  in  many  matters,  but  facili- 
tates official  inspection,  encourages  the  social  min- 
gling of  the  employees,  and  fosters  the  adoption  by  one 
company  of  the  advanced  ideas  of  another  as  soon 
as  they  have  proved  their  worth  by  experiment.  As 
a  result,  not  infrequently  a  capable  workman  in  one 
of  the  Westinghouse  plants  has  been  asked  by  his 
neighbors  to  accept  office  as  burgess  or  councilor 
and  has  made  a  most  creditable  public  record. 

Naturally,  where  fifty  thousand  men  and  women 
are  employed,  more  than  half  the  number  at  some 
specialized  form  of  skilled  industry,  the  eternal  labor 
question  has  not  held  itself  aloof.  Agitators  have 
from  time  to  time  tried  to  stir  up  strife  between 
managers  and  men,  but  with  little  effect.  It  was 
the  consistent  policy  of  George  Westinghouse  to 
treat  with  his  own  workmen,  neither  interfering  in 
the  affairs  of  other  employers  nor  himself  submitting 
to  any  dictation  from  without.  His  general  attitude 
with  regard  to  the  important  question  of  organized 
labor  is  a  matter  of  record.  Statements  have  been 
erroneously  made  that  he  opposed  it.  He  recognized 
the  absolute  right  of  men  to  form  associations  for 
protective  and  beneficial  purposes,  holding  strongly, 
however,  to  the  view  that  there  should  be  no  inter- 
ference with  the  rights  of  those  who  were  not  thus 
associated.  This  position  was  well  reflected  in  the 
correspondence  he  had  with  Samuel  Gompers  in 
April,  1903.  Mr.  Gompers  wrote  that  he  had  been 
informed  that  the  Westinghouse  interests  were  op- 
posed to  union  labor.  Mr.  Westinghouse  answered 


254  GEORGE   WESTINGHOUSE 

that  all  the  managers  of  his  companies  were  earnestly 
striving  to  better  existing  conditions  and  always 
ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  ;  adding  : 

'They  are  a  unit  with  me  in  wishing  that  our 
employees  should  not  join  such  organizations  as 
would  render  them  liable  to  be  involved  in  agitations 
or  disputes  which  have  no  reference  to  their  work  or 
their  employment  with  the  Westinghouse  Companies. 
All  workmen  are  guaranteed  the  same  rights  and 
privileges  with  us,  whether  they  are  affiliated  with 
organized  labor  or  not." 

He  firmly  believed  that  all  the  advantages,  with 
practically  none  of  the  drawbacks  that  go  with  the 
ordinary  labor  unions,  could  be  realized  by  a  union 
formed  of  the  employees  of  each  manufacturing 
industry  without  affiliation  with  other  similar  or- 
ganizations. This,  in  effect,  is  the  condition  existing 
at  the  Air  Brake  Works.  All  the  virtues  of  what  is 
called  " collective  bargaining"  are  available  for  the 
benefit  of  its  employees,  and  the  Company,  on  its 
part,  is  enabled  to  take  broader  views  and  adopt 
more  liberal  policies  than  if  it  were  hampered  by 
outside  influences  having  no  real  knowledge  of  the 
business  or  conditions  surrounding  it. 

In  short,  by  maintaining  a  high  standard  of  wages, 
encouraging  the  operatives  to  make  this  continuously 
possible  by  turning  out  the  finest  quality  of  products 
in  the  market,  and  providing  for  the  welfare  of  the 
old  and  infirm  workmen,  Westinghouse  avoided  any 
serious  labor  trouble.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
when  financial  clouds  hung  over  him  as  head  of  a 
great  company,  his  employees  hastened  to  the  rescue 


''THE  OLD  MAN"  AND  HIS  EMPLOYEES     255 

in  a  spirit  that  reflected  equal  credit  upon  them  and 
him.  No  man  who  applied  for  work  had  ever  been 
questioned  as  to  his  membership  of  a  trade  union, 
a  church,  or  a  political  party,  and  none  had  been  dis- 
charged except  for  cause,  or  —  as  happened  in  a  few 
instances  for  a  brief  period  --  because  business  was 
too  dull  to  permit  of  carrying  the  maximum  force. 
Even  here,  however,  "the  Old  Man's*'  kindness  of 
heart  occasionally  played  a  part  at  odds  with  his 
selfish  advantage.  Such  was  the  case  when  the  year 
1896,  opening  with  slack  prospects,  found  the  Electric 
and  Manufacturing  Company's  works  so]  overmanned 
that,  in  the  interest  of  prudence,  four  or  five  hundred 
laborers  were  likely  to  be  laid  off  in  midwinter. 
Westinghouse  sent  for  one  of  his  lieutenants  and  in- 
quired into  the  matter.  When  he  saw  how  serious 
the  situation  was,  he  said  : 

"  I  am  going  away  for  a  while,  but  I  can't  leave  till 
I  have  made  some  arrangement  for  continuing  those 
men  at  work,  at  least  till  the  cold  weather  is  over. 
Haven't  we  anything  in  the  shops  that  needs  over- 
hauling?" 

"No,  sir/'  answered  the  man,  "not  a  thing  that 
I  know  of  now." 

"What  has  become  of  that  load  of  stuff  we  put 
into  the  loft  some  time  ago  to  get  it  out  of  the  way  ?  " 

"It  is  there  still,  and  it's  practically  all  scrap. 
There's  nothing  in  the  lot  that  we  could  possibly 
make  use  of  by  repairing  it." 

"Well,  never  mind,  get  it  down  and  do  something 
to  it-- I  don't  care  much  what,  as  long  as  these 
fellows  are  employed.  If  that  won't  answer,  bring 


256  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

out  some  billets  and  have  them  shaped  into  squares 
or  hexagons." 

"But,  Mr.  Westinghouse,  it  would  mean  a  tre- 
mendous waste." 

"No,  it  wouldn't.  Nothing  will  be  wasted  that 
keeps  the  wives  and  children  of  all  these  men  from 
suffering  this  winter.  Do  as  I  tell  you." 

And  his  orders  were  obeyed,  with  the  result 
that  hundreds  of  workmen  remained  on  the  pay  roll 
through  the  inclement  season  with  nothing  but 
humanity  as  an  excuse  for  keeping  them  there. 

Again,  in  1899,  about  a  dozen  faithful  employees 
of  the  Air  Brake  Company  attained  the  age  of  seventy 
just  before  they  had  finished  the  full  twenty  years' 
service  required  to  entitle  them  to  pensions.  Ac- 
cording to  its  strict  letter,  the  rule  must  have  been 
enforced  against  them  on  the  9th  of  September,  and 
they  would  have  lost  their  pensions  though  too  old 
to  remain  in  the  Company's  service  or  to  obtain 
work  elsewhere.  When,  almost  at  the  last  moment, 
Mr.  Westinghouse  learned  of  their  plight,  he  at  once 
called  the  directors  together,  and,  by  the  force  of  his 
personal  influence,  procured  an  amendment  to  the 
regulations  postponing  till  the  1st  of  October  the 
date  when  the  exclusion  rule  must  take  effect. 

A  like  trait  manifested  itself  in  other  ways.  Once 
he  descended  with  such  vigor  upon  a  new  mechanic 
who  had  spoiled  a  minor  casting  that  the  offender, 
who  had' not  yet  had  a  chance  to  "measure  the  Old 
Man  up",  was  nervously  unstrung.  A  more  ex- 
perienced associate  consoled  him  by  saying:  "Oh, 
the  Boss  doesn't  really  mean  much  by  that.  The 


"THE  OLD   MAN"  AND   HIS   EMPLOYEES     257 

next  time  he  starts  to  roast  you,  just  tell  him  your 
wife  is  sick."  It  was  a  familiar  proverb  at  the  works 
that  any  tale  of  distress  among  his  employees  aroused 
the  sympathy  of  Westinghouse  at  once,  and  changed 
his  severity  to  gentleness. 

He  had  become  interested  in  a  copper  mine  in 
Arizona,  when  a  neighboring  customs  officer,  smitten 
with  a  spasm  of  superserviceable  zeal,  swooped  down 
upon  the  property  and  arrested  about  thirty  of  the 
unnaturalized  Mexican  miners  on  a  groundless  charge, 
threw  them  into  a  local  jail  in  midsummer,  and  began 
a  criminal  prosecution  against  their  employer.  As 
soon  as  the  news  reached  Westinghouse  that  the 
unfortunates  were  suffering  maltreatment,  he  ignored 
all  considerations  of  his  own  possible  loss,  and  con- 
centrated his  entire  attention  on  the  fate  of  his  men, 
telegraphing  his  representative  on  the  ground  to  bail 
them  out  at  any  cost  and  see  that  no  further  harm 
came  to  them.  The  case  was  eventually  dropped  by 
the  Government,  but  not  till  Westinghouse  had  spent 
a  great  deal  of  money  in  undoing  the  effect  of  this 
act  of  official  stupidity. 

With  all  his  generosity  of  spirit,  he  could  not  forgive 
ingratitude.  A  poor  Hungarian  who  had  recently 
come  to  the  works  and  could  speak  almost  no  English 
was  suffering  from  an  ulcerated  tooth  which  grew 
steadily  worse  till  the  doctor  told  him  he  could  get 
no  relief  except  from  a  serious  operation.  The  man 
was  in  despair.  He  could  not  afford  the  sacrifice  of 
wages  which  would  be  involved  in  his  taking  time  off 
to  go  to  a  hospital,  and  he  feared  that,  with  his  ig- 
norance of  our  language,  he  might  not  be  able  to 


258  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

find  another  place  if  he  lost  this  one.  Westinghouse, 
as  soon  as  his  case  was  made  known,  ordered  that  he 
be  sent  to  a  hospital  and  his  wages  paid  him  during 
his  absence,  and  also  gave  him  a  sum  of  money  to 
meet  any  unforeseen  expense  to  which  he  might  be 
put  before  his  recovery. 

On  the  strength  of  this  incident,  one  of  the  higher 
paid  employees,  an  Austrian  who  had  grown  homesick, 
was  moved  to  play  upon  the  sympathies  of  so  kind 
a  patron,  and  worked  up  a  mock  case  of  stomalgia, 
for  which  a  sea  voyage  and  a  visit  to  a  certain 
specialist  in  Austria  were  said  to  hold  forth  the  only 
hope  of  a  cure.  Down  went  Westinghouse's  hand 
into  his  pocket  and  the  man  was  sent  abroad  by  the 
next  available  steamer.  After  a  pleasant  sojourn 
at  his  old  home  he  returned,  and  in  an  expansive 
mood  boasted  to  some  of  his  boon  companions  how 
he  had  "played  it  on  the  Old  Man."  The  story 
reached  Westinghouse's  ears  and  the  swindler  was 
packed  off  with  incredible  speed.  As  his  position 
in  the  works  was  one  that  required  a  peculiar  training, 
he  was  unable  to  find  other  employment  without  a 
certificate  of  merit,  but  when  it  came  to  granting 
any  kind  of  concession  he  found  the  soft  heart  of  his 
employer  turned  as  hard  as  flint. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
A  TRIO  OF  HOMES 

IN  the  matter  of  homes  George  Westinghouse  was 
more  than  commonly  favored,  having  three  that 
were  permanent  and  two  that  were  movable.  In  the 
permanent  homes,  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania, 
Lenox,  Massachusetts,  and  Washington,  D.  C.,  his 
wife  was  the  presiding  genius,  and  her  word  there 
was  law.  Of  the  temporary  homes,  one  was  a  hotel 
in  New  York  City,  liable  to  change  from  year  to 
year ;  the  other  was  a  private  railway  car  called 
the  Glen  Eyre,  with  commodious  sleeping  quarters, 
dining  room,  kitchen,  and  office.  Wherever  he 
might  be,  this  was  always  held  in  readiness  for  his 
occupancy,  with  his  secretary  and  other  companions, 
and,  attached  to  the  most  convenient  train,  it  bore 
him  hither  and  yon  without  interruption  of  any  busi- 
ness he  happened  to  have  in  hand  at  the  time. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  his  house  on  the  eastern 
outskirts  of  Pittsburgh  was  bought  in  1871.  It  was 
built  of  brick,  in  the  villa  style  of  architecture,  with 
the  square  tower  and  Mansard  roof  then  so  popular, 
and  stood  in  the  midst  of  an  attractive  plot  of  ground 
on  a  slight  eminence  close  to  the  local  railway  station, 
so  that  he  had  only  a  few  minutes*  walk  to  reach  the 
train  which  bore  him  daily  into  the  city.  To  avoid 


260  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

a  mere  roundabout  route  in  descending  to  the  leve* 
on  which  the  tracks  ran,  he  laid  out  a  cross-path  from 
the  house  door  to  the  corner  of  the  lawn,  and  built 
a  small  tunnel  from  that  point  to  the  station.  To 
this  estate  Mrs.  Westinghouse  had  given  the  name 
Solitude,  because  that  seemed  most  appropriate 
to  the  retreat  where  nightly  her  husband  could  sepa- 
rate himself  from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the  rushing 
world  in  which  he  passed  his  days.  When  they  first 
moved  into  the  house  they  had  not  the  means  to 
furnish  all  of  it,  so  the  drawing-room  was  left  as  it 
was,  and  a  smaller  room  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
entrance  hall  was  fitted  for  social  and  family  pur- 
poses. Later,  as  their  circumstances  improved, 
they  had  the  whole  house  refurnished  with  some 
elaborateness,  besides  extending  it  to  the  rear  so  as 
to  add  a  spacious  and  high-ceiled  dining  room. 
Westinghouse's  favorite  place  for  sitting  with  his 
friends  during  the  winter  season  was  a  square  hall  a 
little  back  from  the  main  entrance,  flanked  by  an 
angular  staircase  and  containing  an  open  fireplace. 
In  the  warm  weather  he  enjoyed  spending  his  eve- 
nings on  the  porch.  He  was  always  a  happy  host, 
and  rarely  a  day  passed  when  a  few  of  his  friends  — 
most  frequently  his  business  associates  and  their 
wives  —  did  not  dine  with  him.  When  some  es- 
pecially perplexing  question  was  occupying  his  mind, 
he  might  slip  away  from  the  party  after  dinner  and 
seek  a  little  library  upstairs  where  he  could  be  quiet 
and  concentrate  his  thoughts  for  a  while.  If  he  and 
his  guests  had  become  involved  in  a  discussion  which 
could  be  illuminated  by  a  diagram,  he  would  call 


A  TRIO  OF  HOMES  261 

them  into  the  billiard  room  and  spread  his  papers 
on  the  green  baize  table,  over  which  the  group  would 
bend  with  their  heads  close  together,  sometimes  for 
an  hour  or  more. 

When  I  was  at  Solitude  early  in  1915,  the  house 
stood  just  as  he  and  his  wife  had  left  it,  except  that 
it  had  been  stripped  of  most  of  the  finer  furniture, 
and  the  bric-a-brac  and  curios  with  which  they  had 
filled  it  as  souvenirs  of  their  repeated  trips  to  the  old 
world.  The  walls  sent  back  echoes  of  every  footstep, 
and  there  was  a  ghostly  suggestion  as  one  walked 
through  it  and  came  suddenly  upon  a  huge  photo- 
graph of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Westinghouse  as  they  ap- 
peared during  their  first  sojourn  in  London.  The 
two  figures  were  about  one  quarter  life-size,  and  the 
husband's  face,  with  its  heavy  crown  of  dark  hair 
and  its  drooping  mustache,  appeared  in  profile, 
looking  down  at  his  wife,  who  was  seated  in  front 
of  him  with  her  full  face  turned  to  the  observer.  The 
resemblance  of  the  George  Westinghouse  of  the  '70*5 
to  the  George  Westinghouse  of  forty  years  later  was 
so  strong  as  to  be  fairly  haunting.  Another  potent 
reminder  of  him  was  to  be  found  in  the  festoons  of 
webbing-sheathed  wires  which  followed  the  lines  of 
the  entry  ceiling  and  mounted  to  the  second  story ; 
for,  when  he  had  the  house  equipped  for  electric 
lighting,  he  forbade  the  mechanics  to  cut  into  the 
woodwork,  insisting  on  having  the  wires  left  free  so 
that  he  could  make  any  changes  he  wished  when  he 
believed  he  had  hit  upon  a  new  idea.  Thus  he  tested 
by  actual  experience  every  suggestion  in  the  line  of 
lighting  that  came  into  his  mind. 


262  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

At  one  side  of  the  house  was  a  vegetable  garden, 
and  in  front  were  Mrs.  Westinghouse's  flower  beds 
and  a  winding  grape  trellis.  At  the  rear  was  a  stable, 
in  the  cellar  of  which,  as  the  premises  were  gradually 
improved,  were  placed  the  lighting  and  heating 
plants,  the  wires  and  pipes  being  conducted  to  the 
house  through  a  subway  large  enough  for  a  man  to 
walk  in.  The  construction  of  this  underground  pas- 
sage furnished  a  lively  sensation  for  the  Pittsburgh 
newspapers,  which  ventured  all  kinds  of  guesses  as 
to  its  purpose.  By  that  time  Westinghouse  had 
become  so  prominent  a  figure  locally  that  some  of  the 
press  commentators,  knowing  his  distaste  for  ordinary 
publicity,  felt  sure  he  was  taking  this  means  of  making 
his  way  back  and  forth  without  observation  while 
engaged  on  some  new  invention. 

It  was  at  Solitude  that  the  natural  gas  experi- 
ment was  made,  as  described  in  an  earlier  chapter. 
It  was  here,  also,  that  many  distinguished  guests 
from  abroad  were  entertained  when  attracted  to 
Pittsburgh  by  what  they  had  heard  of  the  wonderful 
system  of  administration  in  its  mills  and  shops. 
Conspicuous  among  them  were  Prince  Albert,  now 
King  of  the  Belgians,  and  Lord  Kelvin,  between 
whom  and  Westinghouse  had  sprung  up  a  very  warm 
friendship,  having  its  origin  in  their  community  of 
tastes  and  interests. 

The  Massachusetts  home  was  not  acquired  till 
some  time  in  the  '8o's,  when  Mrs.  Westinghouse, 
whose  health  had  for  some  time  been  not  of  the  best, 
was  advised  by  her  physicians  to  try  the  effect  of 
mountain  air,  and  with  her  husband  passed  a  large 


A  TRIO  OF  HOMES  263 

part  of  one  season  in  the  heart  of  the  Berkshire  Hills. 
Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Westinghouse  became  fascinated 
with  the  country  about  Lenox,  and,  after  giving  it  a 
fair  trial,  Mrs.  Westinghouse  expressed  a  wish  that 
they  had  a  country  home  in  such  a  place  where  she 
could  spend  her  summers,  living  most  of  the  time  in 
the  open  air  and  directing  the  improvement  and  care 
of  the  grounds.  They  looked  together  over  a  num- 
ber of  eligible  sites,  and  presently  fixed  upon  the 
Schenck  farm,  situated  in  the  corner  where  the  towns 
of  Lenox,  Lee,  and  Stockbridge  come  together,  and 
comprising  about  one  hundred  acres  with  a  well- 
built  house  already  on  it.  This  property  they  bought 
in  November,  1887.  The  next  year  they  bought  an 
adjoining  piece  of  the  Clark  farm,  containing  some 
forty-one  acres  and  a  number  of  buildings,  and  the 
year  after  that  another  tract  of  twelve  acres  from  the 
Smith  estate,  bordered  for  a  considerable  stretch  by 
a  shore  of  Laurel  Lake.  With  this  they  rested  for  a 
while,  employing  the  interval  in  improving  the  land 
they  had  purchased  and  watching  for  a  good  op- 
portunity to  obtain  other  parcels  along  the  lakeside. 
Their  chance  did  not  come  for  ten  years,  and  then  a 
series  of  purchases,  mostly  on  the  shore,  more  than 
doubled  their  holdings.  Thereafter  additions  were 
made  at  irregular  intervals,  till  by  the  end  of  1911 
this  estate,  which  they  had  named  Erskine  Park  in 
honor  of  Mrs.  Westinghouse's  family  name,  com- 
passed a  total  of  nearly  six  hundred  acres.  The 
Schenck  house  had  been  enlarged  and  made  over  to 
fit  the  needs  of  its  new  owners,  and  the  family  had 
established  themselves  there  in  October,  1890. 


264  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

The  combination  of  climate,  surroundings,  and 
occupation  proved  most  beneficial  to  Mrs.  Westing- 
house.  Always  fond  of  flowers,  she  came  to  take  an 
almost  childlike  delight  in  all  growing  things ;  and 
here  were  lawns  to  be  laid  out,  old  trees  to  be  trimmed 
or  thinned,  saplings  to  be  transplanted,  and  shrub- 
bery to  be  disposed  so  as  to  produce  certain  landscape 
effects.  The  estate  must  be  supplied  also  with  drive- 
ways and  paths,  the  slopes  would  need  proper  grading, 
swamp  land  would  have  to  be  made  wholesome,  and 
dry  soil  provided  with  means  of  water.  All  this 
meant  a  deal  of  unskilled  labor  supplementary  to 
the  initial  work  of  trained  engineers  and  gardening 
experts ;  the  task  extended  over  a  series  of  years, 
and  Mrs.  Westinghouse  welcomed  the  chance  it 
afforded  her  to  help  many  poor  fellows  who  lost  their 
employment  by  the  panic  of  1893,  and  whose  families 
would  have  suffered  but  for  some  such  godsend. 

How  much  good  her  own  share  of  this  work  did 
her  was  shown  when  the  improvements  had  reached 
a  stage  which  called  for  the  enclosure  of  the  park, 
and  a  man  was  summoned  from  Pittsburgh  to  take 
measurements  for  a  fence.  He  was  somewhat 
amused  when  Mrs.  Westinghouse,  the  semi-invalid 
of  a  few  years  before,  proposed  to  accompany  him 
on  his  walk  around  the  park,  so  as  to  advise  with  him 
regarding  certain  details;  but  his  amusement  gave 
way  to  astonishment  when  she  not  only  made  the 
circuit  without  any  apparent  discomfort,  but  ac- 
tually walked  him  down,  so  that  he  had  to  stop  and 
rest  before  his  tour  was  complete. 

One  of  the  least  attractive  features  of  the  line 


A  TRIO  OF  HOMES  265 

where  the  Schenck  and  Clark  farms  met  was  a  marshy 
tract,  studded  in  part  with  half-matured  willows. 
The  suggestion  that  she  drain  this  and  carry  the  water 
off  in  tiles  was  too  purely  utilitarian  to  appeal  to  her, 
and  she  decided  to  turn  the  swamp  into  a  lake,  draw- 
ing upon  Laurel  Lake  for  whatever  additional  water 
was  needed,  and  with  a  bit  of  judicious  pruning,  use 
the  willow  copse  as  part  of  a  picturesque  background 
of  foliage.  As  the  artificial  lake,  following  with  its 
boundaries  the  lines  of  the  water-charged  soil,  was 
narrow  in  parts,  a  few  bridges  were  thrown  across 
the  straits.  Two  of  these,  at  the  most  exposed  points, 
were  built  of  marble,  while  the  others,  half  hidden 
among  the  willows,  were  of  iron,  infusing  into  the 
scene,  with  their  weblike  construction  and  their  half 
concealment  among  the  trees,  a  Japanese  effect. 

When  it  came  to  running  the  lines  of  the  paths 
and  roadways,  Mrs.  Westinghouse  had  a  most  defi- 
nite conception  of  what  she  wished.  The  engineers 
arrived  with  their  technical  instruments,  prepared 
to  do  everything  themselves  ;  but  she  went  out  every 
day  and  worked  with  them,  directing  instead  of  tak- 
ing directions.  She  preferred  a  homely  device  of 
rope  and  pegs  to  the  best  brass  and  glass  apparatus 
they  could  bring,  and  with  her  own  hands  she  would 
hold  the  end  of  a  rope  while  the  men  swung  it  around 
and  marked  its  course  with  stakes  till  they  had  got 
every  curve  just  to  suit  her.  Sixty  acres  of  the  level 
part  of  the  park  was  devoted  to  ornamental  lawn, 
and  a  considerable  area  on  the  upland  to  a  deer 
paddock.  In  the  midst  of  one  of  the  broad  stretches 
near  the  lake  was  built  a  pavilion,  where  band  con- 


266  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

certs  were  given  occasionally  on  fine  summer  after- 
noons. There  were  tennis  courts  close  by,  also. 

A  distinguishing  mark  of  Erskine  Park  was  its 
system  of  white  carriage  drives.  They  were  visible 
from  the  public  highway,  and  never  failed  to  excite 
comment  from  strangers  passing  the  gates.  Their 
whiteness  was  due  to  the  finely  crushed  marble  used 
for  surfacing  them.  Soon  after  purchasing  the  land 
for  the  estate,  Mr.  Westinghouse  selected  a  site  for 
a  deep  well,  and  started  drilling,  but  at  a  depth  of 
five  hundred  feet  ran  into  a  "cap"  of  marble,  of  the 
same  quality  as  the  product  of  the  famous  Lee 
quarries.  With  the  eye  of  the  ever  practical  man, 
he  saw  at  once  the  use  to  which  this  could  be  put, 
and  took  a  constant  satisfaction  in  the  sense  that 
there  never  could  be  any  neglect  of  the  upkeep  of  his 
drives  without  his  promptly  discovering  the  blot  on 
the  pure  white  surface. 

A  big  barn  stood  near  the  house  when  the  Schenck 
place  was  bought,  and,  as  it  was  not  required  for  its 
original  purposes,  a  question  arose  as  to  its  disposal. 
One  rainy  day  Mrs.  Westinghouse  went  out  to  look 
it  over,  and  was  struck  with  the  idea  of  turning  it 
into  a  recreation-house.  Accordingly  the  mows  and 
bins  were  emptied,  the  lower  ground  floor  —  for  the 
building  stood  on  two  levels  —  was  fitted  up  with 
pantry  and  kitchen  appliances,  dressing  rooms,  and 
the  like,  and  the  entire  upper  ground  floor  was  cleared 
of  permanent  obstructions  and  equipped  for  a  gigantic 
club  or  living  room,  with  books  and  pictures,  card 
tables  and  lounging  chairs  everywhere,  and  gymnastic 
apparatus,  a  bowling  alley  and  a  billiard  table  so 


A  TRIO  OF  HOMES  267 

placed  as  to  be  least  in  the  way  if  the  floor  had  to  be 
cleared  for  dancing,  a  reception,  or  a  hunt  breakfast. 

Against  the  wall  were  hung  from  time  to  time 
numberless  framed  photographs,  many  of  them  bear- 
ing the  autographs  of  their  subjects  or  of  the  artists 
who  took  them,  and  nearly  every  one  having  a  story 
connected  with  it.  Here  were  portraits  of  musicians 
and  actors,  men  of  letters  and  doctors  in  various 
sciences  with  whom  the  family  were  on  terms  of 
friendship.  Mingled  with  these  were  the  portraits 
of  relatives  or  childhood  associates,  and  one  of  an 
interesting  girl  in  whom  George  Westinghouse  be- 
lieved he  had  discovered  a  genius,  and  whom  he  sent 
abroad  for  a  thorough  education  in  music.  For  per- 
fection of  workmanship,  the  amateur  photographs 
of  Albert  Kapteyn,  a  Dutch  gentleman,  easily  bore 
off  the  palm ;  their  subjects  were  of  the  genre  order, 
but  most  of  them  were  outdoor  views  in  Holland, 
England,  Scotland,  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  Spain. 

On  the  tops  of  the  bookshelves  were  grouped  a  few 
of  the  hunting  trophies  obtained  by  the  present 
George  Westinghouse  while  a  lad.  He  had  impor- 
tuned his  parents  for  a  gun  till  at  last  his  mother 
consented  to  give  him  one  if  he  would  agree  to  shoot 
only  a  single  specimen  of  any  kind  of  wild  creature. 
Under  this  contract  he  brought  her  his  birds  and 
beasts,  and  she  had  them  mounted  by  a  taxidermist 
and  added  to  the  collection  of  family  memorials. 

Mrs.  Westinghouse  took  the  keenest  pride  in  what 
she  jocosely  termed  her  farming.  Live  stock  was 
her  special  hobby,  and  she  was  a  regular  exhibitor 


268  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

at  the  annual  horse  show  in  Lenox.  Her  farm  horses, 
which  never  failed  to  receive  some  flattering  award, 
carried  off  in  one  year  the  first,  second,  and  third 
prizes.  The  walls  of  her  greenhouses  bristled  with 
certificates  from  the  Lenox  Horticultural  Society, 
of  honors  won  by  her  gardener,  Edward  J.  Norman, 
for  his  displays  at  the  local  Florist  Show.  Her  herd 
of  fine  milch  cows,  varying  in  number  from  twenty 
to  twenty-five,  paid  their  tribute  to  a  dairy  built  and 
equipped  on  the  most  modern  plans,  and  run  in  every 
department  by  electricity.  This  was  for  several  years 
one  of  the  special  objects  of  interest  for  visitors  at 
the  Park,  partly  because  of  the  novelty  of  the  me- 
chanical devices  employed,  and  partly  because  the 
barnyard  was  surfaced  with  the  same  crushed  marble 
as  was  used  on  the  carriage  drives,  giving  the  whole 
place  an  air  of  aggressive  cleanliness. 

'The  Lenox  residence,"  writes  an  old  family 
friend,  "was  Mrs.  Westinghouse's  idea  in  every  de- 
tail, and  was  the  first  building  in  the  world,  so  far 
as  I  know,  in  which  diffused  electric  lighting  was 
attempted,  the  effect  being  to  give  the  appearance 
of  daylight,  there  being  no  shadows  in  any  room. 
The  lamps  were  arranged,  throughout  the  house 
and  on  the  piazzas,  in  a  special  moulding  where  the 
walls  joined  the  ceilings.  There  were  some  fifteen 
hundred  lamps  in  all,  every  one  made  especially  for 
Mrs.Westinghouse,aswere  also  the  sockets,  switches, 
and  other  appliances.  When  you  reflect  that  this 
took  place  thirty  years  ago,  you  get  an  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  undertaking.  I  recall  that  even 
Mr.  Westinghouse,  in  spite  of  his  progressive  ideas, 


A  TRIO  OF  HOMES  269 

opposed  his  wife  in  this  matter,  but  she  carried  out 
her  plan,  with  a  result  much  admired  and  quickly 
copied;  and  as  in  1888  electric  lighting  in  private 
residences  was  in  its  infancy,  and  the  few  lamps 
were  usually  hung  on  the  gas  fixtures  without  even 
the  concealment  of  the  wires,  some  conception  of 
the  innovation  is  possible.  This  was  brought  home 
to  me  about  fifteen  years  later,  when  one  of  the 
engineers  from  the  Electric  Works  in  Pittsburgh 
came  to  Erskine  Park  to  report  on  the  electric  light 
plant.  Just  before  starting  back,  he  asked  if  he 
might  go  into  the  house  and  see  the  arrangement  of 
the  lights  —  a  surprising  request  in  view  of  the 
progress  that  had  been  made  in  interior  electric 
lighting  since  this  house  was  built.  He  explained 
that  he  was  working  in  the  shops  when  the  ap- 
paratus was  made,  that  everything  was  special 
because  nothing  like  it  had  ever  been  made  be- 
fore, and  no  one  there  could  understand  how  it 
was  to  be  used ;  so  he  determined  that  if  he  ever 
got  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  place  he  would 
seethe  results." 

The  electric  energy  employed  on  the  estate  gener- 
ally was  supplied  from  a  power  house  situated  in 
a  retired  nook  at  the  north  end  of  the  estate.  This 
was  a  substantial  stone  structure,  containing  a  com- 
plete steam  plant  and  dynamos  for  generating  current. 
A  rotary  pump  operated  by  an  electric  motor  lifted 
from  Laurel  Lake  the  water  needed  for  feeding  the 
artificial  lake,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  came 
to  the  rescue  when  the  public  water  company  at 
Lenox  found  itself  crippled  by  some  emergency.  To 


270  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

this  establishment,  also,  Lenox  was  indebted  for  the 
introduction  of  electric  lighting  into  the  village. 

The  Westinghouse  home  in  Washington  was  the 
fine  brick  mansion  on  the  west  side  of  Dupont  Circle 
built  by  James  G.  Elaine  when  he  became  Secretary 
of  State  in  the  Garfield  Cabinet,  but  unused  by  him, 
owing  to  the  assassination  of  the  President  and  his 
own  withdrawal  for  a  season  from  public  life.  It 
was  leased  for  several  years  to  Levi  Z.  Leiter,  the 
retired  merchant  from  Chicago,  and  then  passed  into 
possession  of  Mrs.  Westinghouse.  Here  the  family 
lived  for  a  series  of  winters,  taking  a  lively  interest 
in  the  social  and  benevolent  activities  of  the  city, 
particularly  while  the  McKinleys  were  in  the  White 
House.  It  was  in  this  house  that  Mrs.  Westinghouse 
gave  a  demonstration  of  her  executive  ability  which 
attracted  the  widest  attention. 

In  the  spring  of  1899  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  was  to  hold  a  convention  in 
Washington,  and  it  was  the  desire  of  Mr.  Westing- 
house,  as  one  of  the  recognized  pillars  of  the  organiza- 
tion, to  entertain  his  fellow  members  in  some  way. 
He  accordingly  issued  invitations  for  a  large  recep- 
tion, which  was  to  give  them  an  opportunity  to  meet 
the  chief  dignitaries  of  the  Government  and  the 
resident  diplomatic  corps ;  but  these  were  hardly 
out  before  he  received  a  sudden  summons  abroad 
and  was  obliged  to  take  passage  on  the  next  steamer. 
The  situation  was  critical,  for  the  signs  all  forecast 
an  enormous  attendance,  and  not  a  move  had  been 
made  toward  arranging  a  program  or  preparing  the 
house.  Mrs.  Westinghouse  stepped  at  once  into  the 


A  TRIO  OF   HOMES  271 

breach.  Perceiving  that,  capacious  as  her  main  floor 
was,  it  could  not  accommodate  such  an  assemblage 
with  comfort,  she  had  a  ballroom  thrown  out  to  cover 
the  entire  garden  in  the  rear,  practically  doubling 
her  space.  It  was  built  of  wood,  but  elaborately 
decorated  inside,  with  an  expansive  effect  produced 
by  a  series  of  arches ;  and  so  cleverly  was  its  point 
of  juncture  with  the  main  house  concealed,  that  no 
one  unfamiliar  with  the  premises  suspected  that  it 
was  merely  a  temporary  structure. 

Every  detail  of  her  plan  was  executed  under  her 
personal  supervision,  and  at  the  head  of  the  receiving 
line  she  welcomed  more  than  three  thousand  guests 
who  would  not  have  assumed  from  her  appearance 
or  manner  that  such  momentous  undertakings  were 
not  with  her  an  everyday  experience.  At  her  side 
stood  Rear  Admiral  Melville,  president  of  the  society. 
Until  that  evening  he  had  always  cherished  a  rather 
unflattering  impression  of  women  as  administrators, 
especially  in  emergencies  calling  for  rapid  thought 
and  action  on  a  broad  scale ;  but  he  confessed  to  his 
friends  after  this  reception,  the  largest  of  the  season 
in  a  city  of  large  functions,  that  he  was  a  convert  to 
the  opposite  view. 

Westinghouse  was  eminently  a  domestic  man. 
He  had  no  taste  for  club  life,  but  aimed  to  make  his 
home  his  place  of  refreshment.  Mrs.  Westinghouse 
did  all  she  could  to  encourage  this  idea.  Her  house- 
hold management  was  on  so  elastic  a  plan  that  when 
her  husband  would  suddenly  telephone  her,  as  he 
often  did,  that  he  was  going  to  bring  two,  six,  or  even 
ten  friends  home  to  dinner,  nothing  went  awry. 


272  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

The  conversation  at  their  table  never  took  a  turn 
toward  ill-natured  or  meddling  gossip.  It  was  light 
or  grave  according  to  who  might  be  present ;  but 
when  he  had  his  choice,  Westinghouse  liked  to  talk 
about  the  latest  news  from  the  technical  world, 
or  what  would  happen  next  in  commerce  or  politics. 
Mrs.  Westinghouse  recognized  that  her  first  useful- 
ness as  a  partner  of  her  husband  lay  in  making  his 
path  as  smooth  as  possible  and  enabling  him  to  devote 
his  best  faculties  to  his  work,  secure  from  any  petty 
worries  that  could  be  avoided.  And  she  carried  the 
same  spirit  into  larger  matters  also,  for,  when  his 
business  troubles  reached  their  crisis  in  1907,  she 
came  forward  at  once  with  all  the  securities  he  had 
made  over  to  her  at  various  times  as  gifts,  and  insisted 
upon  throwing  them  into  the  general  pool  to  help 
relieve  his  embarrassment. 

In  return,  his  devotion  to  her  throughout  their 
married  life  was  chivalry  itself.  She  could  not  ex- 
press a  wish  that  he  did  not  lay  himself  out  to  gratify, 
whether  it  seemed  to  him  wise  or  whimsical.  When 
they  were  separated  he  never  allowed  a  night  to  pass 
without  exchanging  a  few  words  with  her  by  tele- 
phone or  telegraph,  usually  about  the  happenings 
of  the  day.  It  made  no  difference  whether  they  were 
on  the  same  side  of  the  ocean  or  not.  He  cabled  her 
from  London  early  one  evening  that  Lord  and  Lady 
Kelvin  and  several  other  guests  were  coming  to  dine 
with  him,  and  received  her  answer,  extending  her 
greetings  to  the  company,  before  they  sat  down  to 
table.  His  habit  in  this  regard  was  much  facilitated 
by  the  installation  of  private  wires  in  every  house 


A  TRIO  OF   HOMES  273 

they  occupied,  connecting  it  with  his  distant  business 
offices.  When  he  was  at  home,  these  enabled  him 
to  communicate  promptly  and  confidentially  with 
his  subordinates ;  when  he  was  away,  they  afforded 
a  means  of  reaching  his  wife  without  the  delays  inci- 
dent to  ordinary  messages.  At  Erskine  Park  the 
long-distance  telephone  was  brought  even  into  the 
dressing  room  to  which  the  golf  players  resorted 
after  a  game. 

Of  buoyant  temperament  himself,  Westinghouse 
had  no  use  for  pessimists,  but  wished  about  him  only 
cheerful  persons,  with  happy,  hopeful  faces  and  ways. 
He  was  fond  of  young  people,  and  was  rarely  with- 
out one  or  more  in  his  home.  He  liked  especially  to 
have  his  nieces  about,  and  used  to  call  them,  because 
they  were  so  merry,  his  "  patent  gigglers."  All  the 
good  stories  he  heard  during  his  absences  he  saved 
for  the  amusement  of  his  wife,  and  often  sent  friends 
to  her  to  hear  them  retold  in  her  version. 


CHAPTER  XX 
INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER 

SOON  after  the  receivers  were  appointed  in  1907, 
George  Westinghouse  one  morning  with  a  friend  was 
on  a  train  passing  the  Air  Brake  Works  at  Wilmer- 
ding,  and  the  shops  of  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
and  Machine  Companies  at  East  Pittsburgh.  He 
had  been  reading  some  newspaper  comments  on  his 
misfortunes,  in  which  admiration  for  his  genius  and 
character  was  tempered  with  charitable  reflections 
on  his  lack  of  business  judgment ;  and  there  was  a 
strong  flavor  of  sarcasm  in  his  voice  and  manner  as 
he  remarked  : 

"They  say  I'm  no  financier."  Then,  after  a 
moment's  pause,  and  with  a  sweeping  gesture  which 
took  in  the  whole  industrial  panorama:  "So  I 
suppose  all  those  great  works  built  themselves!" 

His  newspaper  critics  had  touched  on  the  quick 
the  most  sensitive  spot  in  his  make-up,  for,  if  he 
cherished  one  pet  vanity,  it  was  his  self-confidence 
in  directing  his  business  on  its  fiscal  as  well  as  its 
mechanical  side.  His  resourcefulness  as  an  inventor 
was  due  to  the  wonderful  scope  of  his  imagination, 
but  that  faculty  often  stood  him  in  bad  stead  in 
financial  affairs,  for  few  of  the  men  on  whom  he  must 
depend  for  pecuniary  support  were  able  to  forecast 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  275 

the  future  in  his  grand  way,  and  in  hours  of  stress 
when  he  most  needed  their  aid  they  were  sometimes 
least  prepared  to  extend  it.  "Having  solved  to  his 
own  satisfaction  the  renl  inherent  difficulties  in  any 
problem,"  says  Calvert  Townley,  "his  mind  leaped 
forward  over  the  intervening  barriers  to  ultimate 
success,  seeing,  as  if  already  accomplished,  results 
which  would  require  not  only  vigorous  effort  but 
considerable  time.  An  invention  that  showed  great 
promise  in  laboratory  or  shop  was  at  once,  in  his 
mind,  being  successfully  marketed  throughout  the 
world  in  quantities  to  which  its  worth  would  ul- 
timately entitle  it.  He  resented  the  thought  of  the 
time  that  must  intervene  to  create  public  demand 
and  distribute  the  product.  What  he  knew  to  be 
right,  he  expected  others  to  admit  sooner  than  they 
did." 

No  manufacturing  plant  of  his  was  ever  built  big 
enough  to  suit  him ;  he  never  inspected  an  installa- 
tion in  one  of  his  shops  without  beginning  to  calculate 
how  soon  it  would  be  outgrown.  It  was  a  universal 
custom,  when  he  entered  business,  to  count  "pro- 
spective earnings"  as  a  legitimate  part  of  the  basis  of 
capitalization  in  launching  a  corporate  enterprise, 
and  he  simply  followed  the  habit  of  his  contempo- 
raries. Moreover,  he  insisted  on  living  up  to  this 
idea  even  when  things  were  going  against  him ;  no 
matter  how  hard  the  times,  dividends  must  be  main- 
tained when  earned,  for  the  shareholders  expected 
them  ;  if  this  involved  a  perilous  strain  on  the  present 
resources  of  the  concern  —  well,  it  would  all  be  made 
up  later,  so  why  borrow  trouble  ?  And  it  is  but  fair 


276  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

to  admit  that,  as  a  rule,  his  expectations  were  even- 
tually justified  as  to  the  main  outcome,  however 
injudicious  it  may  have  been  at  the  time  to  trade  so 
heavily  on  the  future.  Having  fixed  his  purpose  to 
achieve  a  certain  result,  he  counted  no  outlay  as 
extravagant  if  it  would  speed  his  progress  to  that 
goal.  He  once  said  to  Mr.  Townley  :  "I  shall  spend 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  this  year  in  developing 
my  gas-producer." 

Few  persons  not  intimately  associated  with  him 
suspected  the  amounts  he  threw  without  compunc- 
tion into  investigations  and  experiments  which 
promised  nothing  directly  in  themselves,  but  would 
probably  point  the  way  for  an  advance  in  some  un- 
tried direction.  When  his  brother  protested  against 
his  paying  what  seemed  an  exorbitant  price  for  a 
device  that  he  believed  would  help  him  in  his  work, 
he  answered  good-humoredly :  "I  appreciate  your 
interest,  Herman,  but,  all  the  same,  I  am  going  to 
doit!" 

He  was  equally  indifferent  to  the  aesthetic  appeal 
where  it  came  into  conflict  with  the  practical. 
Frank  S.  Smith,  a  former  member  of  his  staff,  says 
that  in  1892  "there  was  under  development  in  the 
Electric  Company's  Works  a  special  grinding  ap- 
paratus for  use  in  connection  with  the  manufacture 
of  the  'stopper'  lamp.  During  Mr.  Westinghouse's 
absence,  the  head  of  one  of  the  departments,  an  ex- 
cellent designer,  had  constructed  a  machine  which 
did  the  work  fairly  well  and  followed  a  very  graceful 
design.  Mr.  Westinghouse,  on  his  return,  dissected 
the  whole  machine  and  reconstructed  it  on  a  much 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  277 

more  effective  but  less  artistic  plan.  On  my  assum- 
ing to  remark  that  although  the  new  apparatus 
worked  very  well,  it  did  not  look  nearly  so  well  as 
the  original,  he  answered  :  "Smith,  what  works  well 
looks  well." 

His  standards  were  free  from  any  taint  of  mere 
personal  profit.  He  cared  for  money  only  because 
it  would  give  him  power  to  do  big  things.  "Had  he 
coveted  riches  for  their  own  sake,"  says  Mr.  Stillwell, 
"he  could  have  passed  his  life  making  steel  rails, 
cutting  them  off  in  thirty-foot  lengths,  and  selling 
them  for  cash ;  but  this  would  have  led  nowhere." 
His  interest  in  invention  was  practical  rather  than 
scientific.  The  announcement  of  a  new  discovery 
in  mechanics  or  the  solution  of  some  tedious  technical 
riddle  went  for  little  with  him  unless  he  could  see 
how  it  was  going  to  shorten  a  time  or  a  distance, 
double  a  producing  capacity,  or  promote  the  public 
safety  ;  then  he  was  enthusiastic. 

Perhaps  owing  to  his  difficulty  in  gaining  a  hearing 
for  his  own  first  great  invention,  he  always  showed 
much  consideration  for  budding  inventors.  As  a 
result,  the  various  Westinghouse  companies  have 
become  the  repository  of  many  thousand  purchased 
patents ;  and  for  all  that  gave  any  promise,  it  is  safe 
to  say,  generous  returns  were  made.  The  story  is 
told  in  Pittsburgh  of  the  inventor  of  a  rat-trap  who 
was  seeking  for  somebody  to  put  it  upon  the  market 
for  him.  A  prominent  citizen  to  whom  he-  applied 
admitted  that  it  was  ingenious  —  too  ingenious, 
indeed,  for  none  but  an  uncommonly  intelligent  rat 
could  possibly  find  the  way  into  it.  "He  looked 


278  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

disappointed,"  said  this  gentleman,  "  but  brightened 
when  I  added  that  his  device  contained  one  little 
feature  which  I  thought  might  be  worth  his  showing 
to  George  Westinghouse.  Somewhat  dubiously  he 
went  away.  When  we  next  met  I  inquired  whether 
he  had  followed  my  advice.  'Oh,  yes,'  he  answered  ; 
'Mr.  Westinghouse  didn't  care  anything  about  the 
trap,  but  he  was  interested  in  the  very  feature  you 
mentioned,  because  it  might  be  of  use  in  an  invention 
he  was  developing.  He  bought  my  trap,  patent 
rights  and  all.  I  would  gladly  have  sold  it  to  him 
for  a  hundred  dollars.  He  offered  me  three  thousand 
and  I  accepted  it  on  the  spot.'  ' 

In  his  business  relations  Westinghouse  was  con- 
spicuous for  frankness  and  old-fashioned  honesty. 
His  unwillingness  to  advise  the  electrification  of  the 
Manhattan  Elevated  Railway  in  New  York  before 
he  was  convinced  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  it  was 
paralleled  by  the  campaign  he  waged  for  years  against 
combustible  cars  and  excessive  speed  on  electric 
roads  either  above  or  below  ground,  arguing  that 
electricity  might  prove  a  more  perilous  agent  than 
steam  unless  the  precautions  he  advised  were  ob- 
served. Though  a  manufacturer  of  electrical  ap- 
paratus and  a  contractor  for  its  installation,  he  was 
ready  to  forego  tempting  pecuniary  profits  for  the 
sake  of  dealing  squarely  with  his  customers  and  the 
public. 

It  was  the  same  way  with  the  quality  of  his 
products.  He  would  not  consent  to  have  anything 
go  out  of  the  Westinghouse  works  until  it  was  as 
perfect  as  his  men  could  make  it.  A  prominent 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  279 

mining  engineer,  speaking  of  this  trait,  remarked 
that  he  never  bought  any  but  Westinghouse  ma- 
chinery, because  it  always  did  more  than  was  claimed 
for  it  —  a  fifty  horse-power  machine  invariably  being 
good  for  seventy  horse  power,  and  other  things  in 
like  proportion.  In  order  to  fortify  himself  in  this 
practice,  Westinghouse  was  regardless  of  time  or 
trouble  in  bringing  a  piece  of  work  to  the  desired 
degree  of  excellence.  It  took  four  years  of  expensive 
experiment  to  produce  the  four  thousand  horse-power 
locomotive  for  hauling  trains  through  the  Penn- 
sylvania tunnel  under  the  Hudson.  "If  George 
Westinghouse  said  it  would  go,  it  would,"  declared 
a  railroad  president  recently,  discussing  one  of  the 
latest  mechanical  ventures  of  the  Machine  Company. 

A  purchaser  of  a  lot  of  incandescent  lamps  came 
back  to  complain  that  they  would  not  do  the  work 
for  which  he  had  bought  them.  He  found  his  way 
to  Westinghouse  himself,  who  heard  all  he  had  to 
say,  asked  him  several  questions,  and  suggested  a 
plan  for  setting  the  matter  right.  As  soon  as  the 
visitor  had  gone,  Westinghouse  sent  for  the  employee 
who  had  taken  the  order. 

"That  man  says  he  told  you,  when  he  bought 
those  lamps,  what  use  he  was  going  to  make  of  them. 
Is  it  true?"  he  demanded. 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  hesitating  answer. 

"And  didn't  you  know  they  were  unsuitable  for 
his  purpose?" 

"Why-- I  suppose  I  thought  —  but  the  order 
was  large,  and  - 

"That's  not  the  way  to  build   up  a  business/' 


280  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Westinghouse  broke  in  sternly,  and  cut  off  further 
parley  by  dismissing  the  offender  from  his  employ. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  was  very  gentle  in  dealing 
with  honest  mistakes.  "We  do  not  discharge  our 
men  for  little  things,"  he  explained  to  a  friend  who 
had  shown  surprise  at  his  moderation.  "If  we  were 
hanged  for  everything  we  did  wrong,  there  would  be 
few  of  us  left." 

His  odd  mixture  of  concentration  and  diffusion, 
irregularity  and  method,  used  to  baffle  the  compre- 
hension of  observers  who  knew  him  only  super- 
ficially. They  could  not  reconcile  his  lack  of  a  fixed 
routine  of  life  with  the  precision  of  movement  that 
reigned  in  his  shops.  In  the  Air  Brake  Works,  where 
the  raw  material  is  carried  from  stage  to  stage  on  a 
sort  of  continuous  railway,  and  the  castings  are  borne 
away  in  like  manner  to  the  assembling  departments, 
automatism  in  manufacture  is  brought  to  a  point 
which  is  a  standing  marvel  to  visitors  from  the  old 
world,  accustomed  to  seeing  human  labor  still  pre- 
eminent. In  the  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Works 
the  cashier's  office  is  so  systematized  that  seventeen 
thousand  mechanics  can  be  paid  their  wages  in  fifteen 
minutes,  not  with  cheques  but  in  money ;  and  the 
clerical  force  of  three  thousand  persons  is  paid  by 
cheque  with  corresponding  expedition. 

Westinghouse  himself,  according  to  Frank  H. 
Taylor,  had  a  faculty  of  mental  distribution  which 
enabled  him  to  converse,  write  a  note  or  cast  up  an 
account  and  dictate  to  a  stenographer,  all  at  the 
same  time.  This  did  not  interfere  with  his  ability 
to  catch  mental  photographs  of  any  happenings  that 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  281 

interested  him,  and  to  store  negatives  in  so  orderly 
a  fashion  in  his  memory  as  to  be  able  later  to  bring 
out  the  right  one  whenever  needed.  Mr.  Stillwell 
says  that,  having  been  interrupted  midway  in  a 
conversation  with  some  one  and  chancing  to  meet 
the  same  person  six  months  afterward,  he  could  re- 
sume their  talk  just  about  where  it  had  dropped. 
The  momentary  riveting  of  his  thought  on  whatever 
he  was  doing  was  shown  in  a  hundred  little  ways. 
Mrs.  Raymond  Mallary  says,  for  instance,  that  he 
always  preferred  to  mix  his  own  salad  dressing  at 
dinner,  and  that  while  he  was  thus  engaged  he  would 
only  look  up  with  a  nod  to  any  one  who  addressed 
him,  postponing  a  more  elaborate  response  till  the 
dressing  was  finished  to  his  satisfaction.  The  Rev- 
erend Doctor  Fisher  of  Pittsburgh  describes  his  un- 
conscious trick,  when  an  important  thought  suddenly 
occurred  to  him  at  table,  of  rubbing  his  chin  in  an 
absent  manner,  stretching  himself  back,  and  some- 
times penciling  a  little  sketch  on  the  damask  cloth. 

In  spite  of  his  being  so  indefatigable  a  worker,  he 
was  content  with  a  moderate  amount  of  sleep  in  a 
night.  During  the  day,  even  when  he  was  apparently 
resting,  his  mind  was  awake.  Doubtless  the  ex- 
penditure of  so  much  energy  with  scant  replenish- 
ment would  have  broken  down  almost  any  man  of 
the  ordinary  physique  and  conventional  habits,  but 
Doctor  Fisher,  after  watching  its  effects  upon  him 
from  young  manhood,  ascribes  his  immunity  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  continually  shifting  his  line  of 
work.  Whatever  came  next  his  hand  would  absorb 
his  immediate  attention  :  yesterday  it  may  have  been 


282  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

a  novelty  in  rotary  engines,  today  a  refractory 
electric-lighting  apparatus ;  tomorrow  it  might  be 
something  which  he  believed  would  improve  his  air 
brake.  Thus  no  subject  with  which  his  brain  busied 
itself  was  allowed  to  go  stale.  Now  and  then,  after 
several  hours  of  uncommonly  hard  work,  he  would 
enter  the  office  of  one  of  his  assistants  and  throw 
himself  down  upon  a  lounge,  and  every  one  knew 
his  habits  too  well  to  disturb  him  with  conversation 
or  attention  of  any  sort  till  he  was  ready  to  rise  and 
leave  or  to  volunteer  a  remark. 

When  traveling,  he  would  not  kill  time,  like  most 
of  his  fellow  passengers,  by  reading,  but  would  seat 
himself  beside  some  one  —  it  mattered  not  whether 
an  acquaintance  or  a  stranger  —  and  in  a  few 
minutes  would  be  shooting  questions  at  him  like 
bullets  from  a  rapid-fire  gun.  He  did  not  smoke, 
and  drank  no  stimulant  except  a  little  wine  with  his 
dinner.  Of  amusements,  his  preference  was  for 
those  which  involved  calculation  and  bodily  exercise, 
like  golf  and  bowling.  He  liked  walking  if  he  had 
a  definite  objective  or  congenial  companionship, 
but  cared  nothing  for  it  simply  as  an  expedient  for 
stretching  his  muscles.  Fishing  he  enjoyed  as  a 
means  of  employing  his  hands  while  turning  a  ques- 
tion over  in  his  mind.  At  Erskine  Park,  toward  the 
close  of  a  busy  day,  he  would  sometimes  collect  his 
tackle  and  start  for  the  pond,  calling  out  to  Mrs. 
Westinghouse :  "I'm  off  to  get  you  a  few  fish  for 
dinner!"  Whether  he  caught  enough  for  the  whole 
table  or  only  one  or  two,  it  was  she  who  must  be 
served  before  anybody  else.  Reading,  aside  from 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  283 

the  daily  news  and  an  occasional  magazine  article 
on  a  practical  topic  which  had  stirred  his  curiosity, 
was  a  rare  indulgence  until  pretty  late  in  life,  when, 
apparently  to  his  own  surprise,  he  discovered  a  fancy 
for  stories  which  hinged  upon  the  unravelment  of  a 
mystery.  During  his  early  and  middle  life  he  was 
fond  of  the  theater,  and  found  particular  pleasure 
in  humorous  plays  that  contained  some  special 
feature  of  excellence;  but  in  his  later  years,  his 
attendance  became  very  infrequent. 

Appreciative  as  he  was  of  fun,  uncleanness  repelled 
him.  "At  a  dinner  of  his  agents  and  engineers  in 
Pittsburgh  at  which  he  was  not  present,"  says 
Mr.  Stillwell,  "some  one  told  an  off-color  story,  and 
a  member  of  the  party  who  had  had  more  wine  than 
was  good  for  him  kept  calling  for  another  still  less 
decorous.  Macfarland,  who  was  presiding,  stood 
the  nuisance  for  a  while,  and  then  announced  to  the 
company  that  no  more  stories  of  that  character 
should  be  told  while  he  was  in  the  chair,  as  Mr.  West- 
inghouse  did  not  approve  of  such  things.  There  was 
loud  applause;  every  one  had  such  respect  for  'the 
Old  Man'  that  Macfarland  carried  his  point  without 
even  a  show  of  active  opposition. " 

Although  he  never  took  part  in  politics  beyond 
allowing  his  name  to  be  used  once  on  the  Republican 
ticket  as  a  Presidential  Elector,  his  interest  in  public 
affairs  was  strong.  As  he  had  repeatedly  proved 
himself  a  good  party  man,  many  of  his  friends  mar- 
veled at  his  outspoken  admiration  for  Grover 
Cleveland. 

"Oh,"  he  explained,  when  one  of  them  questioned 


284  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

him  about  it,  ''Mr.  Cleveland  is  an  exception  to  all 
rules.  He's  a  good  enough  citizen  to  be  a  Repub- 
lican!" 

William  McKinley  had  a  high  regard  for  Westing- 
house's  expert  judgment  and  fairness  of  mind.  Early 
in  1890,  while  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  sent 
Westinghouse  a  request  for  an  interview  on  a  certain 
day.  As  Westinghouse  was  going  to  Chicago  on 
that  day,  he  invited  McKinley  to  join  him  at  Pitts- 
burgh, and  accompany  him  on  the  Glen  Eyre,  so 
that  they  could  have  their  interview  on  their  way 
westward.  Thomas  B.  Kerr,  who  was  of  the  party, 
says  that  McKinley  wished  to  discuss  the  broad  sub- 
ject of  appliances  for  the  protection  of  railway  train- 
men, as  this  was  a  matter  with  which  Congress  would 
soon  have  to  deal.  "After  a  few  minutes'  general 
talk,"  adds  Mr.  Kerr,  "Mr.  Westinghouse  began, 
and  for  an  hour  held  us  spellbound  with  a  wonder- 
fully comprehensive  and  convincing  exposition  of 
the  dangers  attendant  on  railway  service,  their  cause, 
their  remedies,  and  the  importance  of  remedying 
them,  from  the  point  of  view  not  only  of  human 
safety,  but  of  economy  and  efficiency  of  railroad 
operation,  citing  statistics  and  facts  which  were 
startling,  and  expressing  views  and  making  recom- 
mendations that  showed  his  wide  knowledge  and  the 
maturity  of  his  conclusions.  Mr.  McKinley  left  us 
at  Canton,  Ohio,  saying  that  in  many  respects  the 
subject  had  assumed  a  new,  definite,  and  practical 
aspect  in  his  mind ;  and,  watching  with  interest  the 
subsequent  course  of  legislation,  I  was  not  surprised 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  285 

to  see  many  of  Mr.  Westinghouse's  suggestions 
written  into  the  law." 

The  strong  friendship  which  developed  later  be- 
tween the  inventor  and  the  statesman  lends  particular 
interest  to  a  prophecy  made  by  Westinghouse  in 
1894,  two  years  before  McKinley  made  his  historic 
campaign  against  Bryan.  "So  powerful/'  said  he, 
"will  be  the  silver  sentiment  in  1896  that  the  Popu- 
lists may  carry  enough  States  to  throw  the  election 
into  the  House.  There  is  danger  then  that  the 
Democrats  and  Populists  will  combine  and  give  the 
Presidency  to  some  Western  Democrat  who  is  com- 
mitted to  free  silver  coinage ;  further,  a  silver  Con- 
gress may  be  elected  in  1896.  As  soon  as  the  people 
saw  that  fifty  cents'  worth  of  silver  could  be  made 
into  a  dollar  just  as  good  for  ordinary  purposes  as  a 
gold  dollar,  they  would  assume  as  a  logical  sequence 
that  the  same  thing  could  be  done  with  a  bit  of  paper. 
Fiat  inflation  would  follow  free  silver  as  surely  as  day 
follows  night;  and  folly  would  follow  folly  till  all 
confidence  would  be  lost  and  the  day  of  reckoning 
would  have  to  come.  I  do  not  favor  free  silver,  but 
it  would  be  the  smallest  of  the  evils  to  be  feared." 

To  an  intimation  that  he  did  not  seem  very  en- 
thusiastic over  popular  government,  he  answered : 
"I  do  entertain  a  very  high  opinion  of  popular 
government.  We  must  maintain  it,  too ;  but  you 
may  search  the  annals  of  history  and  you  will  find 
that  the  policy  of  success  and  the  conduct  of  all  great 
enterprises  are  shaped  by  the  few.  Ambition,  the 
desire  for  gain,  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  induce  rich 
men  to  engage  in  undertakings  which  benefit  the 


286  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

world,  but  which  the  people  would  never  undertake 
in  a  body." 

Love  of  country  was  with  him  a  positive  religion. 
In  the  center  of  the  main  lawn  at  Erskine  Park  stood, 
during  his  later  years,  the  highest  flagstaff  anywhere 
thereabout,  surmounted  by  two  metallic  circles  hold- 
ing electric  lamps  which  were  a  beacon  at  night 
visible  from  every  point  on  the  surrounding  roads. 
The  pole  was  raised  to  take  part  in  a  notable  cele- 
bration of  Independence  Day  in  1898.  The  war 
with  Spain  had  reached  a  crucial  stage,  the  air  was 
vibrant  with  national  ardor,  and  it  occurred  to 
Westinghouse  that  this  would  be  a  good  time  to 
invite  the  people  of  the  countryside,  including  all  the 
school  children,  to  come  together  and  glorify  their 
heritage  as  American  citizens.  So  he  procured  the 
largest  and  finest  flag  he  could  find,  ordered  a  carload 
of  refreshments,  sent  out  his  invitations,  and  awaited 
with  glowing  anticipations  the  arrival  of  the  Fourth 
of  July,  when  the  flag  was  to  be  raised  for  the  first 
time. 

But  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  a  rumor  gained 
circulation  that  an  important  battle  had  been  fought 
off  the  south  coast  of  Cuba.  No  particulars  could, 
be  ascertained,  even  as  to  the  general  results,  and  for 
a  while  the  joyful  prospects  for  the  morrow  were 
balanced  by  forebodings.  Westinghouse  became 
more  and  more  restless  as  the  afternoon  wore  away, 
and,  after  drawing  upon  every  source  of  information, 
he  bethought  him  of  the  chief  clerk  of  a  hotel  in 
Washington  where  he  had  often  stayed,  and  which 
was  famous  as  a  headquarters  for  officers  of  the 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  287 

Government  and  newspaper  correspondents.  To 
this  man  he  telegraphed  late  in  the  evening,  begging 
for  any  trustworthy  information  whatever  about  the 
reported  battle.  After  midnight  came  the  answer. 
The  clerk,  having  contrived  to  get  hold  of  an  im- 
portant naval  functionary,  had  received  a  "tip" 
that,  though  most  of  the  details  were  still  lacking, 
the  American  fleet  had  won  a  great  victory  off 
Santiago. 

Westinghouse  could  wait  no  longer.  Seizing  his 
flag,  he  ran  out  and  fastened  it  to  the  halyards  hang- 
ing from  the  pole,  and  hauled  it  up  with  his  own 
hands,  so  that  the  dawn  found  it  afloat  and  testifying 
to  his  enterprise  as  well  as  his  patriotism. 

Among  the  idiosyncrasies  of  Westinghouse,  none 
was  more  marked  for  many  years  than  his  hatred  of 
personal  publicity.  He  was  glad  to  have  his  indus- 
tries exploited  to  the  fullest  extent,  for  in  that  direc- 
tion lay  commercial  success ;  but  so  sedulously  did 
he  keep  himself  in  the  background  that,  long  after 
he  had  become  a  celebrity  in  the  outside  world,  he 
was  practically  unknown  to  the  mass  of  his  fellow 
citizens  of  Pittsburgh.  This  was  because  almost 
their  only  chance  to  see  him  was  when  he  walked 
from  the  railway  station  to  his  office  or  from  his  office 
back  to  the  station.  He  refused  to  let  his  portrait 
appear  in  the  newspapers  if  there  were  any  way  of 
keeping  it  out.  "When  I  want  newspaper  adver- 
tising," he  would  say,  "I  will  order  it  and  pay  cash." 
Or  again:  "If  my  face  becomes  too  familiar  to  the 
public,  every  bore  or  crazy  schemer  I  meet  in  the 
street  will  insist  on  buttonholing  me." 


288  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

These  facts  will  explain  how  it  happened  that  the 
best  photograph  ever  made  of  him  was  a  snapshot 
stolen  when  he  was  unaware  of  what  was  going  on. 
It  caught  his  fine  profile  as  he  bent  over  a  drawing 
board  in  the  attitude  of  absorption  so  characteristic 
of  him,  and  derives  a  special  charm  from  his  mani- 
fest unconsciousness.  This  satisfactory  result  was 
brought  about  through  the  connivance  of  two  mem- 
bers of  his  staff,  one  of  whom  concealed  himself  with 
a  camera  in  a  closet  opening  off  the  room  of  his 
confederate,  whither  it  was  known  that  "the  Old 
Man"  was  coming  that  morning  to  study  some  draw- 
ings. The  light  from  an  adjoining  window  fell  just 
where  it  was  wanted,  and  the  photographer,  keeping 
the  closet  door  a  trifle  ajar,  watched  till  his  chief  was 
thoroughly  engrossed,  and  then  pressed  the  button. 
At  first  Westinghouse  was  inclined  to  be  indignant 
when  he  learned  what  a  trick  had  been  played  upon 
him,  but,  as  usual,  his  irritation  did  not  last  long. 

Akin  to  his  dislike  of  having  his  portrait  published 
was  his  aversion  to  letting  his  name  be  used  in  the 
title  of  any  enterprise  not  strictly  in  the  line  of  his 
business.  When,  in  1888-1889  he  removed  his  Air 
Brake  Works  from  Pittsburgh  to  their  present  site, 
Wilmerding  was  open  farm  country,  with  no  human 
habitations  except  two  log  houses  visible  in  the 
neighborhood.  Forecasting  its  possibilities  as  a 
manufacturing  region,  he  purchased  about  five  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  though  obliged  to  include  farms 
stretching  from  the  bottoms  which  he  could  utilize 
back  over  the  hillsides  which  he  could  not,  for  the 
owners  were  unwilling  to  sell  him  the  desirable  tracts 


INSIGNIA  OF  CHARACTER  289 

unless  he  could  buy  the  undesirable  as  well.  On  his 
establishment  of  the  nucleus  of  his  industrial  settle- 
ment, it  seemed  to  some  of  his  friends  most  appro- 
priate to  christen  it  "  Westinghouse",  but  he  would 
not  consent.  Ten  years  later  came  a  proposal  to 
consolidate  the  boroughs  of  East  Pittsburgh,  Turtle 
Creek,  and  Wilmerding,  and  call  the  combination 
"  Westinghouse "  or  "  Westinghouse  City",  in  recog- 
nition of  the  great  changes  for  good  which  had  been 
wrought  in  the  whole  region  since  he  had  begun  to 
take  an  interest  in  it ;  but  the  citizens  who  consulted 
him  found  him  still  objecting.  Whatever  his  real 
motive,  he  playfully  attributed  his  opposition  to  a 
dread  of  having  his  name  brought  into  all  sorts  of 
unsavory  associations. 

"Think  how  I  should  feel,"  he  answered  one  man 
who  was  particularly  persistent,  "if  I  were  to  pick 
up  my  paper  some  morning  and  read  an  account  of 
the  arrest  of  John  Smith  of  Westinghouse  for  bur- 
glary, or  the  commitment  of  William  Jones  of  West- 
inghouse for  habitual  drunkenness !  No,  I  can't 
permit  it." 

And  again,  when  the  apprentices  in  one  of  his  shops 
organized  a  baseball  nine  and  wished  to  call  it  the 
Westinghouse  Club,  he  would  not  let  them.  "If 
you  need  money,  boys,"  said  he,  "come  to  me,  and 
I'll  be  glad  to  help  you  out;  but  you  mustn't  use 
my  name." 


CHAPTER  XXI 
"LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL" 

THE  Westinghouse  family  was  remotely  of  Saxon 
stock,  the  original  name  being  Westinghausen ;  but 
one  branch  migrated  to  England,  and  from  this 
sprang  the  American  line.  As  far  back  as  there  is 
any  record,  the  men  have  been  of  fine  physique. 
George,  with  his  exceptionally  large  head,  his  broad 
shoulders,  and  his  stalwart  frame  more  than  six  feet 
in  height,  was  only  typical  of  his  ancestry,  to  whom 
he  never  failed  to  give  full  credit  when  any  one  re- 
marked upon  his  splendid  vitality.  Indeed,  his 
general  sense  of  soundness,  and  his  belief  that  his 
temperate  habits  would  ward  off  the  disorders  which 
beset  most  men  late  in  life,  betrayed  him  into  occa- 
sional imprudences  that  caused  his  wife  much  anxiety, 
and  not  without  reason. 

With  all  his  modesty  of  demeanor,  he  was  a  very 
proud  man.  Told  once  that  some  one  had  accused 
him  of  never  knowing  when  he  was  beaten,  he 
answered  instantly:  "Oh,  yes,  I  should  have  known 
if  I  ever  had  been  beaten,  but  I  never  have  been  !" 
The  blow  dealt  him  in  1910  by  men  on  whose  lifelong 
support  he  had  confidently  counted  made  no  outward 
mark  upon  him  ;  he  faced  the  world  after  it  with  the 
same  intrepid  look  in  his  eyes  and  the  same  assurance 


"LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL"  291 

of  manner  that  it  knew  so  well  of  old ;  but  he  had 
suffered  a  wound  of  the  spirit  from  which  he  never 
recovered.  His  reluctance  to  admit  this,  even  to 
himself,  caused  him  to  conceal  various  minor  ills  which 
might  have  yielded  to  medical  treatment  if  taken 
promptly  in  hand,  but  which,  neglected,  gradually 
crippled  his  resistant  force  when  more  threatening 
illness  came.  He  would  dismiss  every  inquiry  with 
a  casual,  "Oh,  it's  only  a  cold;  we  all  have  colds 
sometimes,"  or,  "I  dare  say  I  have  eaten  something 
that  doesn't  agree  with  me ;  it's  not  worth  another 
thought."  Now  and  then  a  friend  would  remon- 
strate with  him  so  seriously  as  to  draw  out  some  reply 
like:  "I  can't  afford  to  be  sick  —  you  know  that; 
there's  too  much  depending  on  me." 

The  first  intimation  he  permitted  to  escape  him 
that  he  realized  his  gradual  weakening  came  one 
morning  early  in  1911  when  he  was  ascending  the 
approach  to  the  entrance  of  the  Air  Brake  Works  at 
Wilmerding.  Pausing  a  moment,  he  said:  "I  must 
be  getting  old ;  it  tires  me  to  walk  up  these  steps." 
During  a  visit  to  Lenox  the  same  year,  he  was  at- 
tacked in  the  night  with  a  fit  of  coughing  which  lasted 
two  hours ;  not  till  long  afterward,  however,  did  he 
confess  to  any  one  that  he  had  experienced,  in  the 
midst  of  the  paroxysm,  a  sensation  as  if  his  heart  had 
been  torn  loose.  In  the  summer  of  1913,  while  his 
family  were  in  the  country,  he  began  coughing  again 
at  the  dinner  table,  so  violently  that  the  servants 
were  frightened,  and  one  of  them  hastened  to  sum- 
mon Doctor  William  A.  Stewart,  his  Pittsburgh 
physician.  Before  the  doctor  arrived  the  spasm 


292  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

had  so  far  subsided  that  the  patient  was  ready  to 
turn  the  whole  matter  aside  with  a  witticism.  But 
Stewart's  trained  eye  took  in  more  than  appeared 
on  the  surface,  and  in  response  to  repeated  requests 
for  permission  to  make  a  thorough  physical  examina- 
tion, Westinghouse  finally  yielded  a  very  grudging 
consent.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  undergone 
anything  of  the  sort  since,  as  a  youth,  he  enlisted  in 
the  army,  and  it  brought  to  light  the  fact  that  he 
had  a  dilated  heart  and  other  organic  weaknesses 
which  meant  that  his  life-lease  was  running  out. 
In  view  of  these  discoveries  he  consented  to  drop 
his  current  work  for  a  month  and  try  to  amuse  him- 
self at  Erskine  Park.  Meanwhile  a  business  asso- 
ciate who  had  long  been  familiar  with  his  affairs  and 
felt  on  terms  that  would  warrant  such  a  liberty,  urged 
him  to  make  a  will,  but  for  some  time  he  could  not 
be  induced  to  consider  the  idea  with  any  patience. 
It  required  another  warning  to  bring  him  to  the 
point. 

Few  of  his  immediate  family  were  left  to  provide 
for.  His  father  had  died  in  1890,  the  same  strong- 
willed,  conservative,  characterful  man  to  the  last. 
In  spite  of  their  early  disagreements  as  to  the  value 
of  the  air  brake  invention,  and  certain  old-fashioned 
strictures  of  the  father  on  what  he  regarded  as  the 
extravagances  of  the  son,  they  had  always  remained 
the  warmest  of  friends.  The  mother,  who  after 
middle  life  had  become  a  semi-invalid,  had  in  her 
widowhood  been  a  member  of  her  son's  household 
till  her  death  in  1895.  The  sisters  were  all  gone. 
Of  the  brothers,  only  the  youngest  remained,  Jay 


"LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL"  293 

and  John  having  died  within  a  few  months  of  their 
father. 

Notwithstanding  the  business  ordeal  through  which 
he  had  passed  but  a  few  years  before,  Westinghouse 
still  retained  a  considerable  estate,  the  bulk  of  which 
his  will  divided  between  his  wife,  his  son,  and  his 
brother  Henry  Herman  in  various  proportions.  He 
remembered  generously,  also,  some  of  his  faithful 
subordinates  who  had  stood  in  close  relations  with 
him,  and  the  older  family  servants,  and  canceled 
all  debts  owing  him  by  other  persons.  Henry  Her- 
man Westinghouse,  Charles  A.  Terry,  his  old  friend 
and  counsel,  and  Walter  D.  Uptegraff,  who  had  for 
many  years  acted  as  his  secretary  and  financial 
adviser,  he  made  his  executors,  without  bonds,  and 
with  practically  unlimited  discretion  in  the  handling 
of  the  property.  He  left  no  outside  benefactions, 
a  fact  sufficiently  explained  by  his  well-understood 
philosophy  of  giving.  When  Thomas  B.  Kerr  once 
asked  his  aid  for  a  mission  church  which  was  doing 
good  work  among  the  iron-mill  hands  in  the  outskirts 
of  Pittsburgh,  he  contributed  the  sum  needed,  but 
only  on  condition  that  his  identity  should  not  be 
divulged.  "Then,"  Mr.  Kerr  related,  "he  turned 
to  me  and  said  :  '  I  have  never  permitted  my  name 
to  be  associated  with  any  such  subscription  list.  I 
am  convinced  from  observation  and  experience  that 
the  greater  part  of  the  money  which  is  given  for 
benevolence  is  a  detriment  rather  than  a  help,  for 
it  tends  to  pauperize  the  recipient  by  destroying  his 
honest  pride  of  independence,  and  adds  to  the  burden 
of  society  by  the  development  of  a  class  of  people 


294  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

who  are  willing  to  accept  charity  rather  than  to 
exercise  their  own  ability.  I  think,  as  a  rule,  a  dollar 
given  to  a  man  does  him  ten  dollars'  worth  of  harm, 
while  a  dollar  honestly  earned  by  his  own  efforts  does 
him  ten  dollars'  worth  of  good ;  so  my  ambition  is 
to  give  as  many  persons  as  possible  an  opportunity 
to  earn  money  by  their  own  efforts,  and  this  has  been 
the  reason  why  I  have  tried  to  build  up  corporations 
which  are  large  employers  of  labor,  and  to  pay  living 
wages,  larger  even  than  other  manufacturers  pay, 
or  than  the  open  labor  market  necessitates.' 

11  It  is  a  matter  of  history,  of  course,  how  Mr.  West- 
inghouse  carried  out  this  idea.  Thereafter  his  ap- 
parent ambition  to  build  up  large  concerns  had  a 
different  aspect  in  my  eyes,  as  I  understood  the 
ethical  impulse  underlying  it.  While  he  disclaimed 
belief  in  the  efficacy  of  benevolent  giving,  and  shrank 
from  acknowledgment  of  his  kindness,  those  of  us 
who  were  closely  connected  with  him  knew  of  many 
instances  where  he  was  supporting  whole  families 
and  doing  other  deeds  of  helpfulness  in  an  unosten- 
tatious way.  Mrs.  Westinghouse  was  very  sym- 
pathetic and  loved  to  relieve  distress,  and  Mr.  West- 
inghouse made  her  a  regular  allowance  for  the 
gratification  of  her  desires  in  this  respect.  The 
amount  was  stated  to  me,  and  it  was  large." 

The  play  spell  at  Lenox,  though  extended  to  three 
times  its  proposed  length,  did  not  accomplish  what 
some  of  the  more  optimistic  friends  of  the  family, 
regardless  of  the  doctor's  dictum,  had  been  hoping 
it  would.  When  Westinghouse  returned  to  his  office, 
his  lieutenants  were  shocked  at  the  change  for  the 


"LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL"  295 

worse  that  had  come  over  his  appearance.  Most  of 
the  color  had  left  his  face ;  his  manner,  once  so 
brisk,  had  become  languid  ;  and  he  would  doze  over 
his  work  or  during  any  brief  lapse  in  a  conversation. 
He  walked  little,  and  then  with  the  slow  step  of  a 
tired  man.  To  the  doctor,  who  at  his  instance  had 
made  a  second  physical  examination,  he  related  an 
incident  of  his  country  sojourn,  of  which  a  rumor  had 
reached  Pittsburgh,  but  the  full  significance  of  which 
had  not  been  appreciated.  It  appeared  that  he  had 
gone  one  morning  to  the  pond  for  an  hour's  fishing, 
and  sought  his  rowboat  at  the  usual  mooring,  un- 
aware that  it  had  been  taken  away  for  repairs  and 
another  left  in  its  place.  The  substitute  was  keelless, 
and,  as  he  stepped  into  it,  turned  over,  throwing 
him  into  the  pond.  Fortunately  he  was  where  the 
water  was  only  chin-deep,  and  the  mooring  was  close 
to  a  bridge,  upon  which  he  laid  hold  as  an  aid  in 
clambering  out ;  but  the  bank  was  steep  just  there, 
his  weight  was  considerably  more  than  two  hundred 
pounds,  and  the  strain  which  this  exertion  put  upon 
his  heart  was  excessive. 

Two  of  his  nieces  were  playing  tennis  a  short  dis- 
tance away,  and  in  his  desire  to  escape  their  notice 
he  took  a  roundabout  route  to  the  house  in  his  wet 
clothes.  That  night  he  went  to  bed  with  a  severe 
cold  that  lingered  for  weeks,  and  caused  fits  of  cough- 
ing which  harassed  him  so  that  he  dreaded  to  go  to 
sleep,  lest  he  should  be  seized  with  a  paroxysm  and 
strangle  before  he  could  summon  assistance.  To 
add  to  his  distress,  he  felt  that  it  was  important  to 
keep  his  wife  in  ignorance  of  his  condition,  her  own 


296  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

being  such  that  any  violent  shock  was  liable  to  cause 
her  death. 

Once  more  Doctor  Stewart  protested  against  his 
continuing  his  work,  but  he  insisted  that  he  must 
settle  the  affairs  of  the  Security  Investment  Company 
and  sever  his  direct  connection  with  it.  As  he  ex- 
plained that  this  might  make  all  the  difference  be- 
tween adequate  and  inadequate  provision  for  his 
creditors  and  family  after  he  was  gone,  the  doctor 
consented.  That  business  finished,  Westinghouse 
agreed  to  leave  Pittsburgh  for  a  while  if  the  doctor 
would  accompany  him,  and  in  November,  1913, 
they  went  together  to  Erskine  Park.  Stewart's 
companionship  on  the  journey  and  during  their  stay 
in  Lenox  seemed  to  revive  a  good  deal  of  the  old 
sprightliness  in  Westinghouse,  who,  except  when 
his  illness  took  on  an  acute  phase,  told  stories  and 
jested  like  his  former  self.  The  doctor  slept  in 
a  chamber  adjoining  his,  and  frequently  looked 
in  upon  him  during  the  night,  almost  always 
finding  him  quiet  but  wide  awake ;  the  sleep- 
lessness which  had  grown  out  of  his  apprehen- 
sions of  some  months  before  seemed  now  to  have 
become  a  settled  habit. 

The  moods  of  the  patient  increased  to  fitfulness 
as  his  strength  slipped  away.  He  lost  his  appetite 
for  the  food  prescribed  for  him,  and,  in  his  long 
despondent  periods,  would  beg  the  doctor  to  let  him 
die  unless  he  could  be  allowed  to  resume  work.  At 
other  times  he  would  take  a  cheerful  view  of  what 
he  now  realized  was  the  inevitable  end  of  his  trial, 
even  getting  back  a  little  of  his  whimsical  humor. 


"LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL"  297 

One  nourishing  compound  which  it  was  hard  work 
at  the  outset  to  lure  him  into  swallowing  he  presently 
came  to  relish.  Its  chief  ingredient  was  a  raw  egg, 
and  when  he  was  ready  for  a  glass  of  it  he  would  give 
the  signal  by  asking:  " Doctor,  isn't  it  time  for  me 
to  cackle?" 

After  Christmas,  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  go  to 
his  Washington  home,  which  he  had  extensively 
repaired.  With  this  plan  in  view  the  first  stage 
of  the  journey  was  made  to  New  York,  but  there 
the  party  took  a  suite  in  the  Hotel  Langham  for 
the  rest  of  the  winter,  as  it  seemed  unwise  to  pro- 
ceed further  for  the  present. 

About  the  beginning  of  March  matters  seemed  to 
be  temporarily  at  a  standstill,  but  soon  afterward 
he  was  taken  with  a  sinking  turn  and  fell  into  a 
mental  stupor.  This  remained  his  condition  until 
the  twelfth,  when,  in  the  midst  of  a  crisp,  bright, 
sunny  morning,  the  end  came,  and  so  peacefully 
that  the  friends  gathered  about  him  were  scarcely 
conscious  of  his  passing.  He  was  in  a  wheeled  re- 
clining chair,  as  if  he  were  merely  taking  a  rest 
between  activities.  It  was  the  way  he  would  have 
preferred  to  die  had  he  been  permitted  to  arrange 
the  conditions  himself,  surrounded  with  none  of  the 
accessories  we  associate  with  death. 

Two  days  later,  in  the  presence  of  an  assemblage 
which  filled  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  funeral  services  were  held,  under  the  conduct  of 
the  pastor,  the  Reverend  Doctor  J.  H.  Jowett,  as- 
sisted by  the  Reverend  Doctor  Samuel  J.  Fisher  of 
Pittsburgh.  At  Woodlawa  Cemetery,  where  the 


298  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

burial  was  private,  Doctor  Fisher  conducted  the  serv- 
ices. For  these  few  hours  all  work  was  suspended  in 
the  Westinghouse  shops  and  offices  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  fallen  chief. 
Besides  large  delegations  from  the  leading  scientific 
and  engineering  societies  of  America,  more  than  fifty 
members  of  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Veterans' 
Association  were  present;  some  of  these  men  had 
worked  for  the  Air  Brake  Company  for  forty  years, 
and  all  had  been  members  of  its  force  in  the  first  shop 
it  occupied  in  Pittsburgh.  The  active  pallbearers 
were  eight  old  employees:  Christopher  Horrocks, 
Edward  B.  Cushing,  Samuel  D.  Sleeth,  William  J. 
Hague,  Samuel  McClain,  Thomas  Campbell, 
J.  Hunter  Sleeth,  and  J.  B.  Brooks.  The  honorary 
pallbearers  were  men  of  distinction  in  business  and 
public  life,  including  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Senator 
George  T.  Oliver,  Rear-Admiral  Robert  E.  Peary, 
Samuel  Rea,  and  Frederick  D.  Underwood,  besides 
a  number  of  old  friends  and  managers  of  the  various 
Westinghouse  companies. 

In  June  Mrs.  Westinghouse  followed  her  husband, 
as  the  result  of  a  third  stroke  of  paralysis,  the  first 
of  which  had  occurred  in  1912.  She  left  no  will,  her 
estate  passing  to  her  son  and  sole  heir,  George  West- 
inghouse, who  had  married  in  1909  Violet,  daughter 
of  Sir  Thomas  Brocklebank  of  Irton  Hall,  Cumber- 
land, England,  and  had  two  children,  George  Thomas 
and  Aubrey  Harold  Westinghouse.  On  December  15, 
1915,  the  remains  of  the  eminent  inventor  and  his 
wife  were  removed  to  the  Arlington  National  Ceme- 
tery, opposite  Washington,  D.  C.,  where  a  simple 


"LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL"  299 

but  dignified  marble  monument  marks  their  grave, 
bearing  this  inscription : 


1846  —  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE  —  1914 
ACTING  THIRD  ASSISTANT  ENGINEER,  U.  S.  NAVY,  1864-1865 

His  WIFE 
1842  —  MARGUERITE  ERSKINE  WALKER —  1914 


Here  we  take  leave  of  one  who  was  probably  the 
most  remarkable  industrial  leader  and  prophet  this 
country  has  ever  produced.  Everything  to  which 
he  addressed  his  energies  brought  forth  some  result 
for  the  advancement  of  civilization ;  even  those 
experiments  which  ended  in  apparent  failure  con- 
tributed in  their  way,  either  as  warning  signals  to 
later  comers  or  as  incentives  to  fresh  efforts  which 
did  succeed.  It  was  characteristic  of  the  man  that 
after  the  hand  of  death  had  been  laid  upon  him,  and 
he  who  had  once  been  a  model  of  virile  strength  could 
no  longer  move  about  at  will,  he  was  constantly 
busy  with  pad  and  pencil.  The  very  shortcomings 
of  the  wheel-chair  in  which  he  was  doomed  to  pass 
so  many  weary  days  kept  his  mind  active,  because 
he  read  in  them  a  further  opportunity  to  be  useful ; 
and  the  special  task  he  set  himself  was  to  design  a 
model  invalid  chair  in  which  the  patient  could  be 
wheeled  or  rocked,  raised  or  lowered,  or  shifted  into 
any  position  which  would  make  him  more  com- 
fortable —  all  by  an  electric  mechanism  under  his 
own  control. 


300  GEORGE  WESTINGHOUSE 

Doctor  Fisher  in  his  funeral  sermon  quoted  these 
lines : 

"  I  know  the  night  is  near  at  hand ; 
The  mist  lies  low  on  sea  and  bay ; 
The  autumn  leaves  go  drifting  by ; 
But  I  have  had  the  day/' 

George  Westinghouse  had  had  the  day.  He  had 
rilled  every  hour  of  it  with  achievement,  and  the  sun 
when  it  set  saw  him  still  at  work. 


INDEX 


ACCIDENTS,  evidence  of,  against 
electricity,  96 

Acheson,  U.  S.  circuit  judge,  167 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  298 

Adams,  Edward  D.,  173 

Air,  first  suggestion  of  use  of  com- 
pressed, for  brake,  55 

Atkins,  Edwin  F.,  217 

Automatic  brake,  87,  92 

Automobile,  compressed-air  springs 
in,  221 

BAGGALEY,  RALPH,  59,  62,  73,  246 

Baring  Brothers'  failure,  157 

Belfield,  Reginald,  135 

Belmont,  August,  202 

Blaine,  James  G.,  270 

Brake,  improving  the  speed  of  the, 

49  ;  the  old-fashioned  hand,  47 
British  experiments,  84 ;  triumph  of 

American  over,  191 
Brocklebank,  Sir  Thomas,  298 
Brooks,  J.  B.,  298 
Brown,  Harold  P.,  145,  153 
Burlington,  Iowa,  brake  testing  at, 

92-98;     perfection   of   brake    at, 

95-98 

CALDWELL,  JOHN,  73,  126 

Campbell,  Thomas,  298 

Canal,    electric    motive    power    for 

Erie,  176 
Card,  W.  W.,  66 
Cassatt,  Andrew  J.,  65,  202 
Cataract  Commission  Company,  173 
Central  Bridge,  N.  Y.,  I 
Clark's  chain  brakes,  86 
Cleveland,  Grover,  200,  283 
Cockran,  William  Boiirke,  154 
Colburn,  Zerah,  77 
Columbian  Exposition  of  1893,  162 ; 

size  of  contract  for  lighting,  169 


Cornell,    ex-Governor    Alonzo    B., 

147 

Cravath,  Paul  D.,  201 
Current,  alternating  vs.  continuous 

electric,  132 

Curtis,  Leonard  E.,  166 
Curtis,  Newton  M.,  154 
Gushing,  Edward  B.,  298 

DALZELL,  JOHN,  123 
Dewing,  Arthur  S.,  217 
Dooley,  C.  R.,  251 
Dredge,  J.,  77;    a  skeptical  British 
editor,  82 

EDISON,  THOMAS  A.,  148,  150,  151, 
165 

Edison  Medal,  awarded  Westing- 
house,  197 

Electric  current,  alternating,  making 
newspaper  sensation,  144;  con- 
troversy over,  151  ;  alternating 
triumphant  among  scientists  in 
New  York,  148 

Electric  death  penalty,  152 

Electric  wires  underground,  advo- 
cated, 147 

Engines,  steam  turbine,  183 

Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society, 
198 

Evershed,  Thomas,  172 

Experiments  in  switching  and  sig- 
naling, 1 02 

FERRARI,  ELECTRICIAN,  141 

Fish,  Frederick  P.,  166 

Fisher,    Rev.    Dr.   Samuel  J.,   281, 

297 

Flower,  Gov.  Roswell  P.,  176 
Forbes,  George,  174 
Frick,  Henry  C.,  202 


301 


302 


INDEX 


GAS,  NATURAL,  106;  explosion  of, 
at  Solitude,  109;  great  force  of, 
112;  in  Pittsburgh  industries, 
114;  perils  of  using,  115;  im- 
provements in  piping,  116;  Pitts- 
burgh's problem  of,  119  ;  accident 
at  Solitude,  121 ;  corporation  for 
rule  of,  125;  for  industrial  pur- 
poses, 128 

Gaulard,  Lucien,  135 

Gerry,  Elbridge  T.,  152 

Gibbs,  John  Dixon,  135 

Gillespie,  T.  A.,  126,  161 

Gompers,  Samuel,  253 

Grant,  Hugh  J.,  150 

HAGUE,  WILLIAM  J.,  298 

Herr,  H.  T.,  187,  208 

Hewitt,  Abram  S.,  145 

Hickok,  President  Laurens  Perseus, 

39 

Higgins,  Governor,  198 
Hill,  Gov.  David  B.,  152 
Hill,  James  J.,  202 
Horrocks,  Christopher,  246,  298 
Hughes,  Charles  E.,  198 
Humbert  I,  King  of  Italy,  193 
Hyde,  Henry  B.,  198 

INSURANCE,  LIFE,  scandal,  198 
International  Niagara  Commission, 

173 

International  Railway  Congress,  194 

JEWETT,  THOMAS  L.,  67 
Jowett,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.,  297 

KAPTEYN,  ALBERT,  267 

Kelvin,  Lord,  174 

Kemmler,   William,   the   Murderer, 

153 

Kerr,  Thomas  B.,  166,  284,  293 
Knickerbocker  Trust  Co.,  New  York, 

failure  of,  208 

LAMP,  the  Sawyer-Man,   162,   167; 

the  Stopper,  156,  164,  165 
Lange,  Engineer,  140 
Leiter,  Levi  Z.,  270 
Leopold  II,  King  of  Belgium,  193 


Liebaw,  Richard,  221 
Littell's  Living  Age,  52 
Locksteadt,  Chas.  F.,  163 
London,  electric  lighting  of,  188 
London  Engineering,  77,  135 
Lowrey,  Grosvenor  P.,  165 

MACALPINE,  JOHN  H.,  185 
McClain,  Samuel,  298 
MacDonald,  Dr.  Carlos  F.,  155 
Macfarland,  283 
McKinley,  William,  284 ;    family  in 

White  House,  270 
Mallary,  Mrs.  Raymond,  281 
Mascart,  Professor  E.,  174 
Master  Car  Builders'  Association,  92 
Mather,  Robert,  216 
Maw,  W.  H.,  77 
Melville,  Rear- Admiral  George  W., 

185,  271 

Meter,  an  electric  current,  140 
Miller,  John  F.,  248 
Motor,  Tesla  electric,  141 

NEW  YORK,  the  current  struggle  in, 

H3 
Niagara,  from,  to  the  Navy,    171  ; 

River     power     developed,     170; 

International,    Commission,    173 ; 

present  power  plants,  177 

O'BRIEN,  JUDGE  MORGAN  J.,  200 
Oliver,  Senator  George  T.,  298 
Osborne,  Loyall  A.,  135 

PANTALEONI,  GUIDO,  134,  138 
Parsons,  Charles  Algernon,  183 
Peary,  Rear- Admiral  Robert  E.,  298 
Philadelphia  Company,  124,  197 
Pitcairn,  Robert,  64,  126 
Pittsburgh,  what  natural  gas  did  for, 

119 

Pope,  Franklin  L.,  138 
Post,  George  A.,  194 

RAILWAY,  electric  button  system, 
1 80;  International  Congress,  194; 
Manhattan  Elevated,  system,  181 

Railways,  third  rail  system  on 
Street,  182 

Ratcliffe,  William,  20,  36 


INDEX 


303 


Rea,  Samuel,  298 
Reed,  Judge  J.  H.,  207 
Rodman,  Hugh,  245 
Rotary  engine  idea,  41 
Rowland,  Prof.  Henry  A.,  174 
Ryan,  Thomas  Fortune,  199 

SAGE,  RUSSELL,  181 

Schiff,  Jacob  H.,  202 

Schmid,  Albert,  134 

Scott,  Charles  F.,  135 

Scott,  Rev.  Walter,  37 

Sellers,  Dr.  Coleman,  173 

Shallenberger,  Oliver  B.,  134,  140 

Sherman,  Roger  M.,  154 

Signalling,  experiments  in,  102 

Sleeth,  J.  Hunter,  298 

Sleeth,  Samuel  D.,  298 

Slideometer  device,  94 

Smith,  Frank  S.,  276 

"Solitude",  estate  at  Home  wood,  74 

Stanley,  William,  131 

Stewart,  James  C.,  190 

Stewart,  John  A.,  202 

Stewart,  Lorenzo,  32 

Stewart,  Dr.  William  A.,  284 

Stillwell,  Lewis  B.,  135,  174,  281,  283 

Straight-air  brakes,  88 

Switching,  experiments  in,  102 

TATE,  DANIEL,  68 
Taylor,  Frank  H.,  243,  280 
Terry,  Charles  A.,  165,  293 
Tesla,  Nikola,  134,  139,  244 
Thomson,  Sir  William,  174 
Towne,  Sup't  C.  B.  &  Q.  R.R.,  50 
Townley,  Calvert,  275 
Turretini,  Col.  Theodore,  174 
Twombley,  Hamilton  McK.,  173 

UNDERWOOD,  FREDERICK  D.,  298 
Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company,  132 
Unwin,  Prof.  William  Cawthorne,  174 
Uptegraff,  Walter  D.,  207,  293 

VACUUM  BRAKES,  87,  92 

Van  der  Weyde,  Dr.  P.  H.,  147 

WELLS,  PROF.  WILLIAM,  38 
Westinghouse  Electric  Company  or- 
ganization, 139 


Westinghouse,  George,  personal  char- 
acteristics, i  ;  birthplace  at  Cen- 
tral Bridge,  N.  Y.,  I  ;  father  and 
mother,  2,  13,  17,  21,  23,  25,  36, 
61,  71,  292;  circumstances  of  his 
birth,  5;  childhood,  10;  removal 
to  Schenectady,  13 ;  mechanical 
tastes,  16;  first  earnings,  17; 
ingenuity,  18,  20;  education,  19; 
school  and  teachers,  22  ;  desire  to 
enter  the  army,  23,  30 ;  attempt 
to  run  away,  25 ;  recruiting  serv- 
ices, 32;  experience  as  a  soldier, 
33  J  trying  the  Navy,  35 ;  enter- 
ing Union  College,  37;  no  taste 
for  languages,  38  ;  a  man's  wages, 
40 ;  returning  to  mechanical  pur- 
suits, 40 ;  invents  car  replacer, 
42;  making  cast  steel  railway 
frogs,  42 ;  meeting  with  his 
future  wife,  45 ;  marriage,  46 ; 
Mont  Cenis  tunnel  experiments, 
54 ;  breaking  with  his  partners, 
56;  moving  to  Pittsburgh,  58; 
early  discouragements,  62 ;  first 
real  test  of  the  air  brake,  69; 
patenting  the  air  brake,  72 ;  air 
brake  company  first  organized, 
73;  goes  to  England,  74,  76; 
early  progress  in  Europe,  90 ; 
electrical  appliances  with  air 
brakes,  93 ;  triumphal  train  tour 
of  the  country,  99;  Master  Car 
Builders'  Association  report,  100 ; 
interested  in  natural  gas,  106; 
defending  the  alternating  current, 
149;  magazine  controversy  with 
Thomas  A.  Edison,  150;  con- 
troversy over  electric  death 
penalty,  153;  effective  person- 
ality, 156 ;  needing  a  half  million 
dollars,  158;  criticized  by  his 
creditors,  159;  invades  money 
circles  in  New  York,  160;  trusted 
by  employees  and  contractor, 
161 ;  detective  instinct,  166; 
highly  complimented  by  the  Co- 
lumbian Exposition,  170;  refuses 
a  first  offer  for  advice  on  Niagara, 
174;  experiments  with  electric 


304 


INDEX 


power  on  Erie  Canal,  176  ;  theories 
regarding  a  future  gas  engine, 
1 80;  electrifying  street  railways, 
1 80;  relations  with  Manhattan 
Elevated  Railway,  181 ;  on  the 
"third  rail"  system,  182;  steam 
turbine  researches,  183;  under- 
taking the  electric  lighting  of 
London,  188 ;  contracting  with 
James  C.  Stewart,  190;  scholastic 
degrees  and  honors  for,  193 ; 
Grashof  medal,  193 ;  John  Fritz 
medal,  194 ;  address  before  Inter- 
national Railway  Congress,  194 ; 
complimented  by  N.  Y.  Life,  196 ; 
as  trustee  for  the  Equitable  Life 
Assurance  Co.,  201 ;  second 
financial  ordeal,  204;  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company  most 
seriously  involved,  206;  omitting 
annual  meeting  of  his  great 
company,  208 ;  calmness  under 
great  distress,  210;  collapse  as  a 
financier,  217;  and  the  automobile 
industry,  219;  inventing  his  air 
spring,  222  ;  as  a  public  speaker, 
223 ;  on  the  Trust  question,  224 ; 
on  industrial  standardization,  226 ; 
on  the  ultimate  electrification  of 
all  railways,  228 ;  prophecies  of 
industrial  future  of  South,  229; 
on  the  disciplinary  policy  of 
Germany,  231 ;  admired  by  his 
employees,  232 ;  stories  about, 
and  his  employees,  235 ;  benevo- 
lence of,  240;  habits  of  working, 
241  ;  proposed  Alaskan  wheat 
experiment,  242 ;  beginning  of 
his  air-brake  factory,  246 ; 
Thanksgiving  dinner  custom,  247  ; 
Saturday  half -holiday  custom, 
247 ;  workmen's  pension  system, 
248;  workmen's  relief  depart- 
ment, 248;  educational  work 
among  young  employees,  250 ; 
care  for  the  girls  in  his  employ, 
251  ;  on  the  labor  union  ques- 
tion, 253 ;  benevolence  to  his 
workmen,  255 ;  hatred  of  treach- 
ery, 258;  and  his  trio  of  homes, 


259 ;  private  car,  the  Glen  Eyre, 
259 ;  homes  at  Lenox,  Mass., 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  Washington, 
D.  C.,  259 ;  Lenox  estate  and  the 
electric  apparatus  for  moving 
water,  269 ;  home  on  Dupont 
Circle,  Washington,  270 ;  do- 
mestic traits,  271  ;  sensitiveness 
to  criticism  of  his  financial  failure, 
274 ;  positiveness,  276 ;  generosity 
to  inventors,  277 ;  and  the  rat- 
trap  man,  277 ;  honesty  in  busi- 
ness, 278  ;  fishing  habits,  282  ; 
interest  in  public  affairs,  283 ; 
admiration  for  Cleveland,  284; 
relations  with  McKinley,  284 ; 
on  popular  government,  285  ;  love 
of  country,  286;  dislike  of  news- 
paper portraits,  287  ;  best  photo- 
graph ever  taken,  288  ;  hatred  of 
using  his  name  for  advertising, 
289;  "last  scene  of  all",  290; 
heavy  colds,  291 ;  will,  293 ; 
breakdown  in  health,  294 ;  acci- 
dent in  keelless  boat,  295  ;  nieces 
playing  tennis,  295;  last  illness, 
296;  death,  297;  funeral,  297; 
inscription  on  tombstone,  299; 
industrious  to  the  last,  299 

Westinghouse,  George,  Jr.,  106,  267  ; 
marriage  of,  298  ;  Mrs.  George,  Jr., 
298 ;  children,  298 

Westinghouse,  Henry  Herman,  13, 
126,  131,  293 

Westinghouse,  Jay,  14 

Westinghouse,  John,  14,  23,  29,  30, 
34,  36,  293 

Westinghouse  Machine  Company,  1 3 1 

Westinghouse,  Marguerite  Erskine 
Walker,  46,  106,  134;  and  her 
"Solitude"  estate,  260;  helping 
to  lay  out  her  Lenox  estate,  263 ; 
as  a  farmer,  267;  as  the  author 
of  diffused  electric  lighting,  268 ; 
handling  reception  to  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers, 
270 ;  benevolence,  294 

Westinghouse  Office  Building,  128 

Whitcomb,  G.  D.,  73 

Williams,  Edward  H.,  65,  73 


14  DAY  USE 

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